For Your Protection
by HiKari Mokuba's Guardian
Summary: When Seto almost loses Mokuba, it is made clear that Japan will never be safe for his younger brother. But will he be willing to risk everything he's gained in order to protect Mokuba? But more importantly, can safety really insure their happiness?
1. Explosion

Chapter 1

_Explosion_

"MOKUBA!" Seto yelled, trying to stand his ground, "Let him go, right NOW!" The man that stood across the room from Seto held a grin on his face as he tightened his grip he had around Mokuba. Mokuba squirmed a bit, trying to break free of the headlock that he was held in. His eyes looked directly into Seto's as he took a step forward, extended his arm out towards the kidnapper. "Please… Let him go."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you Kaiba?"

"He has nothing to do with any of this! You're angry at me, Hanzo, not him!" Hanzo chuckled, raising the knife closer to Mokuba's neck. Seto froze immediately. "Don't do it."

"Oh poor Seto Kaiba. You have all the money in the world, and yet you still find ways to pity yourself. You're pathetic, you know that?" Seto kept switching emotions; from anger to fear and from fear to anger. Seto took another step forward, and in turn Hanzo pushed the knife right next to Mokuba's neck. Mokuba started to whimper in fear as a small line of blood trickled down from the blade. Seto stopped once more and swallowed hard. He couldn't stand to see his brother in pain.

"Yes… that's right Kaiba… stay right where you are…"

"Why are you doing this?" Seto managed to say in a low, and deathly voice.

"Because of your selfish actions! The people you thrashed and the reputations you tarnished to get where you are today! The money you own and the lives you've ruined to obtain it. It sickens me, Kaiba, it simply sickens me the way you treat everyone around you. As if they're your pawns in some sort of game where the only person who wins is you."

"Gozaburo played the exact same game!"

"Gozaburo didn't push people out windows, Kaiba." Seto gritted his teeth anger was rose within him. How dare someone put his brother's life in danger because of his heartless stepfather. He took a step back, trying to calm his body.

"Look Hanzo… it's me you want, not Mokuba. If your so angry about what happened, why don't you kill me instead!" Seto yelled.

"Why don't I just kill you instead?" He asked, "Why don't I just kill you instead… that's an idea, isn't it? I mean, without the CEO of Kaiba Corp. that would leave the slot open for anyone who could grab it, therefore giving me the chance to regain what Gozaburo lost and completely wiping your existence for good." Seto eyed him.

"Well?"

"Well, you see Seto Kaiba, that sounds like a brilliant idea, only there's one problem. I know that you care about your brother more than anything in the world and that you'd rather die than see him suffer." Hanzo moved the knife away from Mokuba's neck and lowered it a bit. "Which means there would be no fun in just killing you." Hanzo thrust the knife into Mokuba's side. Mokuba let out a cry of pain.

"STOP! STOP IT!" Seto yelled, his heart nearly ripped in two at the site of his brother in that condition. "No more! Please! Stop! I'll give you anything. You can have my company, my money, just leave my brother alone!"

"Sorry Kaiba, this is just too great a scene to pass up." He dug the knife deeper into Mokuba's side. Mokuba yelled louder, trying to fight his way out of Hanzo's arms but only losing blood in the process.

"MOKUBA! NO! You're a monster… what kind of a cruel person are you?!" Seto yelled out, his arms extended once again, wishing he could reach his brother and pull him to safety but knowing that moving closer would make things worse. It was not only the scene of his brother being tortured that hurt him, but the feeling of complete and utter uselessness as this was all happening gave him incredible pain.

As Hanzo watched this, he started to laugh. "I think I just got a better idea on how to make this more interesting." He said, lifting Mokuba up a bit and bending his head forward. Mokuba was limp in his arms, no longer holding any energy to fight. His face was darkened by his bangs that drooped over his face, sweat dripping down his face. Hanzo put his mouth to Mokuba's ear.

"What are you doing now?!"

"Look at him Mokuba… watching this… watching you die… he doesn't care."

"Don't you even think of brainwashing my brother in the state he is in! Leave him be, you've done him enough harm!"

"Why even fight to stay alive when you know the only family you have is that selfish bastard Seto Kaiba? Don't you miss your dad? Your mom? Don't you want to see them again? It's best if you just give up, your parents would probably want it that way… considering you killed them."

"FUCK YOU HANZO!" Hanzo twisted the blade in response to Seto. At that moment, hearing his brother's cry of pain, he no longer thought. He launched himself right at Hanzo, punching him right in the face. Hanzo flew across the room, slamming into the wall. Mokuba fell to his knees and let the rest of his body hit the floor. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID!" Seto screamed, throwing punches and kicks at him like there was no tomorrow, making sure to hurt every single inch of his body. As Seto continued to beat the living daylights out of Hanzo, the door was busted down and four or five policemen came in, guns at hand.

"Hanzo Itaka you are under arrest!" They yelled, quickly moving forward to try and intercept Seto. "We'll take this from here, Mr. Kaiba!" The policeman confirmed as he tried to pulled Seto away from Hanzo's almost dead body. But Seto didn't stop. Anger still flowed through his veins. He wasn't done yet. Two more officers ran over to him, grabbing his arms and torso trying to rip him away from Hanzo's beaten body. "Stop it! You're going to kill him!"

Finally they were able to stop him after one of them tackled Seto to the ground. He hit the ground with a loud thud and let his body just lay there without anymore resistance. "You better call an ambulance or else Hanzo won't make it."

"It looks like this boy is injured too!" Seto woke up from his dazed state and jumped to his feet.

"Where's my brother?!"

"Sir, it's best if you don't interfere. We need to wait till the ambulance gets here." Seto jolted past them and slid to the ground.

"Mokuba? Are you-?" He stopped. Mokuba's eyes were widened, his pupils small. He looked as though he was frozen in time. Tears and saliva were running down the side of his face. Blood was spread out from underneath him where his wound was. His body was barely moving. "Oh my… no… Mokuba…"

Seto lifted his hand to touch him but stopped in midair from fear. The policemen grabbed him by both arms once more, beginning to drag him away when it finally hit him. It felt as though all emotions erupted inside him and blew up all at once. Everything else in Seto's head had completely shut down as he screamed in horror, crying fiercely, flailing around, waving his arms and legs in the air, and hitting anything that came in contact with him. There was nothing but emotions stirring up inside him at this very moment and it felt as though his very heart had exploded. It seemed like Seto's sanity was completely gone.

* * *

"Seto Kaiba… Seto Kaiba… Is he still asleep?" Voices echoed in his mind with every word that was said and his vision was almost completely white. 

"Yeah, I think he's still a bit out of it."

"I've never seen any reaction this bad before… what do you think happened?" Seto tried to move, but it felt as though his brain waves weren't making it to his body parts.

"I don't know exactly… but I'm almost totally sure it was an emotional break down. But I've never seen one so bad. It was as if his emotions erupted and came crashing down on him and he was no longer aware of what his body was doing." He could feel his hand move a little bit when he told it too. Maybe his body was starting to come around. His vision started to clear and his eyes observed the room around him, eyeing the two doctors standing beside him.

"He's awake!" The nurse exclaimed. He felt exhausted beyond belief. It felt as though his body was heavy and very hard to move. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing appeared to have come out. "Is he going to be okay doctor?"

"He'll come around I'm sure… we should probably go check up on his brother." Seto's body jumped with the mention of his brother.

"Mokuba." The doctor and the nurse stopped and turned around.

"Did he just say some-"

"Where is my brother Mokuba?"

* * *

"He's still in pretty bad condition as you can tell." The doctor explained as Seto observed his brother, the sight paining him with each passing second. "He was in deep shock when we found him. It appeared as though he were dead when we first looked at him, but we soon discovered that wasn't the case." Seto placed his hand on Mokuba's kneeling down beside his bed and putting his head on Mokuba's chest. "Was that the cause of your break down? You thought your brother was dead?" Seto didn't move and didn't answer. 

"We're willing to help if only you would talk to us." Still no answer. Seto wasn't planning to answer anytime soon either. He merely sat there. Waiting. Wishing. Hoping. He just wanted his brother to be okay. "I know this is a hard time for you… but I feel as though I need to tell you my thoughts." There was silence.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! It's me again. I know, I know. Where have you been Kari?? We've been waiting almost a year for one of your breathtaking stories and the only shit you've posted is complete crap! Well folks, I've done a test run with this fic and it's 100 garenteed to knock your socks off and remind you how awesome I am. I put a lot of hard work into this so I really hope you like it. Stay tuned for the next chapter that I've already started working on!(lucky you;)_


	2. The Aftermath of Injury

Chapter 2

_The Aftermath of Injury_

The doctor sighed.

"I know this isn't the first time Mokuba has been severely hurt… or put in an extremely dangerous situation… believe me, it pains me every day to see innocent children like Mokuba come into this hospital in his kinds of conditions. It's… sickening. To think that anyone would hurt a child as badly as him." Seto wished to God that this man would just leave him be. He wanted nothing more than peace and quiet, his brother and himself.

"…Well, anyways. The point that I wanted to make was that… due to your current position as CEO of Kaiba Corp… and the power you hold being the largest gaming company in Japan… your brother is an easy target. Everyone is well aware of the incredible love you have for your brother and the actions you would take to ensure his safety…" Seto was only half paying attention now. The doctor was only telling him what he knew and didn't really care for the man's thoughts to begin with.

"That's why… I think you should leave Japan for good. You and your brother." Seto lifted his head and twisted around.

"What?"

"Your brother will never be safe on the streets of Domino, or any streets in Japan. Everyone knows your name and everyone knows about your brother."

"Leave Japan? Are you fucking mad? I've lived my whole life here; I've invested my whole life into this company. I can't simply leave it behind."

"Take it with you."

"What?"

"I said, take it with you. Take your company with you. Start it up in America. The card game craze has just barely hit the American people. You could be the first to start it up, you'd be making more money than you are now."

"America? Who said I was going to America?"

"America is the best place to go. It's the easiest place to run to in situations like these, anything is possible there." Seto glared. How could this person simply walk in here and tell him to runaway to America? To leave everything that meant so much to him? He had no idea what he was going through, what pain he had endured to get to where he was.

"You probably think I don't know how you feel when I tell you to run to another country. I do, believe me. I've done it once or twice. It's the best way to get away from what you fear most."

"I'm not the type to runaway. I never run, I stand up for myself and fight my way to the top."

"Stand up for yourself, huh? Well, is this what you want to happen every time you stand up for yourself? Have your brother in the hospital?" He said, pointing to Mokuba. "Yeah, you really fought your way to the top alright. By nearly killing another man only after he stabbed your brother and then having a critical mental break down."

"Is that what you came here for?! To mock me?!" Seto yelled, getting right up in the doctor's face and giving him a deadly glare. This did not faze the doctor at all. He appeared totally calm and unaffected by Seto's angry reaction.

"Not at all Seto Kaiba, not at all."

"Than what are you trying to prove by telling me this?"

"I'm not trying to prove anything. I'm merely trying to save a life or a boy's childhood." He glanced over at Mokuba, but only for a split second. "Have you ever thought of what memories he'll have growing up? Getting kidnapped here or there, getting stabbed or wounded. Will it even stop when he's grown up? How can he possibly fend himself against a world that out to use him for revenge?"

"That's enough! I've had it with you and your lectures."

"Have you now?"

"Yes I have. Now leave." And with that, Seto twisted around and faced his brother again. The doctor stood there for a moment, waiting to see if he had anything else to say to him. A few seconds went by and a loud and commanding "Now!" was the last response he got before walking out of the room without another word.

The second he heard the door shut, he collapsed onto the floor. There was only so much he could hide from the rest of the world, and so much he had already lost that would make it even harder to hide.

"Mr. Kaiba…" Voices echoed in endless darkness. He felt as though he were floating in air and nothing to hold him down. His brother's face appeared, healthy and happy. "Mr. Kaiba!"

Seto's body jumped with the rise in his teacher's voice. "What?" He said angrily, giving her one of his usual Kaiba glares.

"I asked you a question while you were daydreaming. Do you think you could try to pay a bit more attention?" Seto leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed as if he were above her.

"I don't need to pay attention, I already know all of this."

"If you know all of this how come you were the only one in the class that didn't turn in last night's homework?" Seto opened his mouth to give another smart-ass answer, when the bell rang. "Alright students, make sure to start on your projects. I'll be checking on your project two weeks from now." Seto stood up with his books in hand and headed towards the door. "Not you Mr. Kaiba, we need to talk." Seto gave an annoyed groan and stood back as everyone else funneled through the door.

"Seto, what's wrong dear?" She asked in a sweet voice, one that he had never heard her talk in before. Never the less, he still remained cold.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Seto, you've completed every single assignment I've ever given you and always paid attention in class. It's very unlike you to be daydreaming."

"So? I can do whatever I want." Seto spat, only getting more and more frustrated with his teacher when he knew she just wanted to help. However Seto Kaiba was known for not accepting help from anyone.

"Well, I think it's best if you go see the school counselor." Before Seto even had a chance to protest, the teacher shoved the note into his hands and gently pushed him out the door. "The counselor is expecting you so don't think about not showing up." She said before closing the door. Seto crumbled the note in his hands and shoved it into his pocket in anger as he started his way down the hallway to the counselor's office.

Seto sighed once again and looked at the ground as he walked. His mind wandered back to Mokuba. He wished he knew if he was okay. Guilt was beginning to come back to him and the sight of Mokuba's state made his heart ache in pain. How could he have let this happen? Why didn't he do something sooner? He imagined so many other things he could've done to help him, but every time he remembered how he didn't. Seto balled his hand into a fist and punched it hard into the palm of his other hand. He continued doing this for a while, letting the pain increase with every punch.

Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Joey walked out of the classroom, books in hand as they headed down the hallway. "Can you believe that test she gave us? I hadn't a clue what any of the right answers were!" Joey complained.

"Well, maybe you should consider studying more." Tea replied. Joey glared at her.

"I study enough."

"Oh no you don't, I've seen the way you study Joey." Tristan said, beginning to laugh. Yugi looked up and saw Seto punching his hand repeatedly into his palm and stopped.

"Look guys, its Kaiba." Tea, Tristan, and Joey stopped as well and directed their attention towards Seto.

"I wonder why he's doing that… he looks kind of upset about something." Yugi thought aloud.

"Do you think we should ask him what's wrong?"

"I'll handle this." Joey stated with much confidence as he walked up to Seto. "Hey money bags, how's it goin?" Seto stopped and looked up. He put on another one of his cold faces.

"Get out of my way, Wheeler."

"Hey now, I just wanna know what's up. You looked pretty upset over there, anything you wanna talk about?" Joey said, giving Seto a friendly gesture with a smile on his face. Seto grabbed Joey by both his shoulders and shoved him hard against the wall.

"Don't you EVER speak to me again? Got that? I will hurt you." And with that, Seto dropped Joey to his feet and started walking again towards the counselor's office. Yugi and the gang both stared at Seto until he entered another hallway and he was no longer in sight, then they all turned back to Joey.

"Joey, are you okay?" Tristan asked, walking over to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" he grumbled, rubbing his shoulders with a disgruntled face, "I wonder what the hell is up with him."

"Me too… I've never seen him act so violent towards you, Joey. I wonder what's wrong with him."

"Well, whatever it is, it must be pretty bad for Seto to act so unorthodox towards Joey."

**A/N:** _Well, another chapter, posted only 2 days after I first published it. I think I'm doing pretty good for someone who hasn't written in almost a year, don't you think? Thanks a lot for all your reviews, they sure made me happy to know that I still have it and your all still reading. I've already started on the third chapter, so stay tuned for more anime adventure very soon!_


	3. Facing the Truth

WhatsInAName!!!: Oh, you're a fan, eh? That's nice to hear, although this is the first time I've seen an anonymous review with that username before, do you have another account or something? I'd like to know:3 Thanks for the review by the way, I'm glad I can get those quick actions from you! Enjoy.

AmePiper: Ah yes, my dear and lovely AmePiper. We should talk sometime; I like the fact that you've stuck by and reviewed to a lot of my fics, even when I was going through that non-writing or writing-crap stage. It's nice to know there's at least one fan that hasn't given up on you. I'm glad to hear that how I write my characters is appealing; I try to write them as realistically as possible. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Afiong Bassey: Hello dear, thanks for the review! Sorry I never replied to that e-mail of yours, things have been so hectic lately since school is about to start up and what not. I'm afraid I don't know the first thing about doing the splits, I'm sorry. But I'm glad that your enjoying my fic as well as it's genre. I like to have happy readers and I hope that this chapter will satisfy you as much as the last chapters. Enjoy.

fieryphoenixgirl119: Yes, we all need to hug our Mokuba plushies once and a while. It's pretty good at making you feel better. Hope this chapter makes you feel better, and thanks for the review.

Chapter 3

_Facing the Truth_

"Good afternoon Mr. Kaiba, I've been waiting for you." The counselor said, getting up right as Seto walked in. "Please, have a seat." She said kindly, showing him a chair to sit in and sitting back down herself. Seto did not respond, merely obeyed. It would just be a couple more hours until he could leave this wrecked prison and visit his brother again. How he wished time would just go by faster.

"How are you?" She asked after a couple moments of silence. Seto just stared at her.

"Look lady, I know how you people work. You ask people how they are and ask them meaningless stupid questions that you don't even care about to get them to spit up their deepest, darkest feelings to you." The counselor gave him a grin. A sort of evil grin, Seto knew he was in for more trouble than he expected with this lady.

"Oh come now Seto… we're just here to talk. Don't be so cold." Seto remained silent, wishing he could be anywhere but there at that moment. "So… talk to me here."

"And if I refuse?"

"You do have a choice."

"Well, good."

"So about your brother…" Seto's eyes shot up and stared at her. "What was his name again?" She took out a file and opened it up, skimming through it for a moment. "Ah yes, Mokuba, right?" Seto was still silent. She flipped through a couple more pages in the file she was reading, then stopped and looked up. "Your brother is in the hospital, correct? Got into some trouble?" Seto stood up and started walking towards the door.

"And where do you think your going?"

"I am not talking to you about my brother. That is my business and no one else's."

"I'm a counselor dear, your personal lives are our business." Seto twisted around.

"Listen to me, I don't care what your job is, if you don't stop I WILL make sure of it that you are fired. I will not tolerate this."

"And I don't care what you'll tolerate. You will sit down or I will make your school life quite miserable and make sure your school life is miserable." Seto glared, but sat. He didn't want his life mixing with his school life and he figured he might as well just stay for the time being rather than not pay attention in class. "Good…" she said in her evil voice.

"Now… let's talk about your past."

"Why would you wanna talk about that?"

"Well, sometimes it can explain a person's behavior. A bad childhood can hurt a person throughout their entire life, and they can turn into something they didn't use to be because of it." Seto felt a stab at his heart. He remembered how Mokuba would always tell him how he had changed from when he was a kid that he wasn't the same person before. Seto couldn't explain why this was, just that he needed to grow up as a child and therefore could no longer remain one. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"No, not at all."

"Then maybe we can talk about your father."

"Gozaburo? I don't care. That man is dead and can no longer affect me."

"I meant your real father." Seto stopped breathing. He never spoke of his father. He would sometimes talk of his mother; he loved his mother dearly, but never his father. It was a part of Seto he never came to terms with, so it was buried deep within him so that he would never have to encounter it. After a long moment of silence, she spoke up again, "He committed suicide, correct?"

It started to happen. Seto put his hands on his head, trying to make it stop, be he could not control it. 'No… please no… not again…' He was beginning to have a flashback, the flashback of the day his father died. He wanted it to stop, he needed it to stop. He didn't want to see it again. But it happened.

"Seto, could you come in here please?" his father called from the kitchen. A young, seven year old Seto walked into the room with a bottle in hand.

"Yes Dad?" Seto asked staring at him. His father started walking towards the door.

"We need to talk." He closed the door and locked it. Seto stared at him with a bewildered face. His father was acting a bit unusual. He had been acting a bit on the edge for a while now. Ever since his mother had died, his father had never quite been the same. Seto knew there was something terribly wrong with him but decided not to bring it up, feeling as though he was just a child who wouldn't be able to help his father in the end.

"Oh… okay, can I just give this to Mokuba? I think he's getting hungry." Seto said, showing him the bottle he was carrying for his brother. His father had walked to the other door Seto had just walked into and closed it as well as locked it. Seto's stomach started to twist up inside of him. Worry filled his head, but he tried to rationalize his thoughts by telling himself it was just his father and his father loved him.

"You'll have to wait on that son… we really need to talk about some things."

"Okay… what about?"

"Well… I'm sure you remember your mother. It's been about six months since she's died…" Seto didn't quite know what his father was going to tell him. He already knew all of this, although he did admit that they had never really discussed that issue either. "I've been trying my best to work my hardest so I can provide for you and your brother these past six months on my own… but I'm beginning to think I can't do that anymore."

"You can't do it anymore? But why Dad?"

"Because Seto…" His father took out a gun from his back pocket. "Your father is very, very sick." Seto dropped the baby bottle to the ground.

"Dad… what are you doing with that?!"

"I'm going to do what's best for the family son… I can't bare to live without your mother any longer…"

"But Dad! What about us?! Please don't do this! If you're sick, we can take you to the doctor's! Please!"

"I'm sorry Seto…" He put the gun to the side of his head. "But no doctor can cure the pain I feel within myself." Seto ran in the corner of the room and closed his eyes. His father yelled at him, running over to where Seto was hutched over in the corner. "NO! You need to see this, I want you to everyone what I've done."

"Dad! Please!"

"LOOK AT ME!" Seto looked up, afraid his father would shoot him if he didn't do what he asked. His father took a step back and placed the gun right next to his head again. "Goodbye." He said, before pulling the trigger and blowing his brains out. Blood splattered everywhere. Seto screamed the loudest he had ever screamed. He'd try to move, but his body couldn't. Blood coated his face and clothing as well as the walls of the kitchen. He screamed louder and louder, hoping to hear that someone was on their way to take him away from this terrible place. Seto would be locked in there for two whole hours before someone would come to get him.

Seto got up. "What now?"

"I'm done."

"You're most certainly not done." Seto headed for the door and reached out for the knob. "Come back here this instant, I'm warning you." Seto turned the knob and walked out the door. Once in the hallway, he walked through the hallways and out the door with a quick pace. He didn't even care that school wasn't over yet, all he wanted to do was get his anger out. He got in his car and started taking deep breaths as he drove off towards the hospital. He needed to calm himself down. Seto Kaiba did not show weakness, he had to contain his emotions. He knew that he had to see his brother, for he was the only thing on his mind.

When he reached the hospital, he didn't bother to talk to anyone or even see if it was visiting hours; he simply walked into the elevator and walked to Mokuba's hospital room. Seto took another deep, deep breath before opening the door and walking in. He stopped for a moment to observe his brother's state. He was sitting quietly looking out the window near his bed side.. "Mokuba…" he said in a low voice. Mokuba looked up.

"Nii-sama?" Seto quickly walked over to him, falling to his knees. He grabbed Mokuba's hand and held it tight. Mokuba was a little taken back by Seto's immediate reaction. When it came to his emotions, Seto was always quite cautious to make sure no one was around, but it seemed as though everything was out in the open at the moment. "Are you okay?" Mokuba asked, somewhat frightened by Seto's intense emotions.

"Am I okay? What about you? Are you doing okay?"

"Well, as okay as you can be when you've got a hole in your side…" Mokuba said, rubbing his wound softly. Seto couldn't help but feel as though this was all his fault. Once again, he had failed to protect his brother. He had failed to keep his promise he had made all those years ago. That his brother was in pain, and there was nothing he could do about it but watch him go through the slow and painful process of recovery. Sometimes, just watching these things seemed unbearable.

'What if the next time he can't recover?' He thought to himself, 'What if… he really can't go back to how he use to be. What if I ruined his life forever?' Seto imagined Mokuba in another one of those harsh, but realistic, situations where he got hurt, only this time he had lost his leg, or this time he was no longer able to move his body. What if he could never walk again? Worry and guilt from situations that hadn't even occurred filled his mind.

**A/N:** _Here you are, another chapter. I know this chapter took a bit longer to write and the next chapter might also take a bit longer to write as well. I just have to get over the first five chapter hump and then chapters will be coming out like you'd never seen them before. Hopefully. With school starting off once again I can't promise anything, but I'm going to try the best I can. Thanks for all the motivating reviews!_


	4. Running in Circles

WhatsInAName!!!: Well, even if you can't write, you're excellent at being a great reviewer! Thanks for being so awesome man, hope you enjoy the chapter.

AmePiper: That's great to hear! I totally wasn't sure if I should add in the flashback or not. I mean, I really wanted to, but I felt like you guys might get a little annoyed or something with it. In the end I decided to go with my writer's instinct and go on and add it in there. And it's so great to hear such kind words. I'd like to think I know my characters inside and out, and I know that's not possible only being a writer and not exactly the creator of these brothers, but I'm pretty damn close from what you tell me! It's always great to hear such nice reviews, and I'm so glad you'll be there with me till the end. I'd like you to know, that when I wrote this chapter, even though I was tired or wasn't motivated, I thought of your review and tried to get it done as fast as I could, so I hope it made a difference and enjoy!

fierypheonixgirl119: Yeah, that counselor was mean. Most counselor's really aren't that way, I definitely don't wanna give off the impression that they are. They're actually quite helpful. This one was just mean cause, well, poor Seto lives a hard life. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Afiong Bassey: I'm sorry. I hope my last chapter wasn't too gross. Hopefully this chapter will be a little easier to read for your stomach. Thanks and enjoy!

Chapter 4

_Running in Circles_

"Nii-sama?" Seto snapped back to reality. His head turned and looked back at his brother. "Are you sure your okay Nii-sama? You seem a bit… tense."

"I'm fine Mokuba… it's you I'm worried about. Listen… I think you should come back home with me tonight."

"Tonight? But don't I need to stay here for a little while longer?"

"I know, I know. But… you know how lonely it gets in the mansion. Especially when you're not around. And I can't bare even imagining you all alone in that hospital without me there to protect you." Mokuba gave a small giggle.

"Protect me? From what?" Seto could think of ten different horrible ways some villain or vengeful nut case could find his way into the hospital and hurt Mokuba, but he remained silent and gave a fake smile.

"Come on Mokuba… just come with me. Just to put my silly worries to rest."

"Well… alright."

"Great." Seto didn't wait a second longer. He gently moved his hands underneath Mokuba and pulled him into his arms, holding him tightly against his chest as he moved back onto his feet. After he had steadied himself, he started his way out of the hospital at a somewhat quick pace.

"Nii-sama, shouldn't you tell someone your taking me? Or check me out?"

"If they get worried, they'll be sure to call me and I'll tell them you're with me. There's nothing to worry about." Seto stated as he gracefully made his way out the door and to his car. He carefully placed Mokuba in his seat and put on his seatbelt. When Seto got into the car and buckled himself in, there was an eerie silence between the two brothers. Seto suddenly became aware that something was wrong. He looked over at his brother. Before he could ask, Mokuba already spoke up.

"I… I'm sorry Nii-sama…" Mokuba didn't look his brother in the eyes.

"Sorry? For what? You haven't done anything wrong."

"I'm sorry… for believing Hanzo." At first, Seto hadn't the slightest clue what Mokuba meant. Then the memories started to come back to him. 'Look at him Mokuba… watching this… watching you die… he doesn't care.' Hanzo's words echoed through his mind. 'Why even fight to stay alive when you know the only family you have is that selfish bastard Seto Kaiba? Don't you miss your dad? Your mom? Don't you want to see them again? It's best if you just give up, your parents would probably want it that way… considering you killed them.' The anger from that very night had returned to him in that moment.

"I was in a weak position…" Mokuba spoke once more. "I probably would've believed anything he had told me that night… the pain was just so great. I couldn't think straight."

"Mokuba, you don't have to worry about anything. The most important thing is that you're with me and you're safe. Hanzo will never hurt you again." Seto started up the car and started his way towards home. The eeriness had gone, but the silence was still there the whole way home between both brothers.

It felt like the whole world was spinning. He started to open his eyes slightly, but his vision had not yet come back to him. He was shaking. Mokuba felt as though his whole body was out of whack and wasn't functioning correctly. Had he taken any drugs? Mokuba couldn't remember, maybe that was also the result of the drugs. His vision had come back to him finally and he started to observe his surroundings. It looked like a cozy little office, but Mokuba knew that this place was the farthest thing from cozy.

He had to remain calm. This was not the first time he had been in this type of situation and he knew remaining calm was the best way to go about things, at least until his brother showed up. But even though he had been in this type of situation much more than most people, the same thought came to his mind once again. What if this time his brother couldn't save him and he died? Mokuba jumped at the sound of the door being open.

"Well, well, well… good morning princess." Hanzo said, giving him a menacing smile. Mokuba tried to put on a tough face, even though he was shaking inside. "Did you have a good sleep? I'm sure those pills helped you."

'So he did drug me…' Mokuba thought to himself. He tried to move his body, but it didn't work. His arms and legs felt like they were made out of mush, he couldn't move any part of his body no matter how hard he tried. Mokuba started to panic, trying to move his body but still getting no results. He whimpered in fear and desperation.

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention. You probably won't be able to move for a couple hours. I gave you more than any human being so be able to handle, but I'm sure you'll be okay." Mokuba was still trying to calm himself, but with each passing second the desperation grew and his mentality was crumbling.

"W… Why…?" Mokuba choked out, in a quiet voice.

"Why you ask?" Hanzo walked over and knelt down in front of Mokuba, putting his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "Well, you see Mokuba… your brother ruined my life." Hanzo stood back up, "It's quite the tragic story, actually. Would you like to hear it?" Without waiting for an actual response he went on, his hands behind his back as he paced back forth across the room. "I was fresh out of college. A promising young man with a long life ahead of him. In those days Kaiba Corp. was just starting up, and that was around the time when I first met Gozaburo.

"He told me to be apart of his team, his company that was going to change the world. He promised me many things if I did what he had asked, and I was more than happy to join his team and work by his side. When Kaiba Corp. had reached its golden age, I was Gozaburo's top employee, his right hand man. He made sure that I gotten everything I deserved and therefore, I did my part and helped Kaiba Corp. climb all the way to the top." Hanzo stopped in the middle of the room, turning to face Mokuba and look him straight in the eyes. "Then your brother took over the company. When news of Gozaburo's death and Seto's new position had reached the public, I thought nothing of it. Until your brother fired me.

"He claimed I wasn't a good enough worker, and that I didn't support his new ideas for the company, that I was only good working for Gozaburo. He fired me on the spot, and my life crumbled to the ground. My job was my life, and suddenly I was on the streets without anything. That's when I knew, I had to get him back. I had to give Seto Kaiba what he deserved. And that's why you're here, young Mokuba, wondering weather you'll live or die. It's all because of what your brother did."

Mokuba just stared at the man. For a moment, he hadn't realized how many lives Seto had really affected after he had taken over the company. But then he realized this wasn't exactly the greatest way to go about it, especially not holding him hostage and threatening to kill him. Sometimes Mokuba wished there weren't so many lunatics in the world; it would've made his life so much easier.

Hanzo flipped out knife he had grabbed off his desk, observing it. "Your brother hasn't treated you well, has he?" He asks, looking back over at me. Hanzo makes his way across the room and kneels down right in front of me. "Don't worry" He brings up the knife and lets the point just barely touch my skin, "I'll take care of you from now on."

The door busts open. Seto appears inside the room within seconds, from the look on his face, he's ready to fight anyone. "Hanzo Itaka. I thought it was you. You always sucked at writing business letters, but I didn't know you sucked at writing randsom letters as well."

"Well, it's good to know you can still read Seto Kaiba. I was almost worried you wouldn't come." Seto looked over at Mokuba, his facial expression was a twist between fear and guilt. Mokuba would've killed to make a facial expression of his own, sending a silent message to his older brother, but his body was still dysfunctional from the drugs going through his system. Seto looks back at Hanzo.

"Give me back my brother."

"So soon? And we were just starting to bond."

"Hanzo, if you don't give him back I will make sure that you will pay for what you've done to him."

"Is that so?" Seto turned towards Mokuba again.

"Get out of here Mokuba!" Mokuba lay there, his body limp and unmoving. "Mokuba, what are you waiting for? Make a run for it!" Seto commanded. Mokuba wished more than anything that he could call out to his brother, that he could tell him what was wrong. "What have you done to him? You bastard!"

"Oh, nothing but a couple drugs here and there… nothing to worry about, I'm sure." Hanzo picked up Mokuba and held him in his arms for a moment. He gazed down into the boy's face, staring at him with a mothering gaze. "Poor little thing, stuck with such an abusive brother on top of a dangerous life."

"Put him down Hanzo." Hanzo shifted Mokuba in his arms and now held him in a headlock, leaving the rest of his body to hang by his neck. Hanzo lifted the blade and put it to Mokuba's neck, giving Seto an evil stare. He knew he had him now. Seto stopped breathing for a moment. Mokuba looked helplessly into his brother's eyes.

"MOKUBA!"

**A/N:** _So I didn't get as far as I wanted to get with this chapter, but at least you have something to live for, right? Okay, for anyone who didn't really understand, that last bit up there was a flashback. Basically the beginning and reasoning behind Hanzo's kidnapping and what not. Just thought I'd let you guys know just in case. I'm loving all your reviews, I've already started on the next chapter, and I hope to hear from you all soon! Thanks._


	5. A Decision and the Arrival

What'sInAName!!!: Yay! I'm glad you liked it. Oh, and I'm so sorry about the cliff hanger! I totally didn't mean for it to be that way, but suddenly the chapter had gotten so long I had to leave the rest for the next chapter . I hope you don't hate me, enjoy!

AmePiper: Isn't it cool feeling important? You kids always make me feel so important, and half the time I really don't feel like any of this is that good. Hey, I remember Gundam Wing. Well, actually I don't. I was more into G Gundam. Short series, but I loved it. Aw, I can inspire people? Now I feel ten times more important! Thanks for being such a lovely lovely human being and enjoy!

Afiong Bassey: Oh gosh, I'm sorry for confusing you! Like I explained in the last author's note, after the page break goes into a flashback. The reason I didn't mark it was cause I wanted to leave you all in suspense and then go "Oh! I get it!" When you realize it's from the first chapter. But I'll try to be more careful next time, hope this chapter doesn't confuse you!

bridget vreeland 1: Hope this was quick enough for ya! Have fun!

Mystical Sand: Yay! Mystical Sand! It's been so long! How are you dear? I hope I didn't bug you with my message, I just wanted you to read my latest stuff since it isn't crap like the other stuff I've been posting for the past year. I really hope you're liking my story so far! Thanks for the review!

KuRAWR!: Oh hey, what's up?

Chapter 5

_A Decision and the Arrival_

His body jerked up right. Mokuba could feel his heart pumping inside his chest and images were still flashing through his mind. He looked around his room a little bit, trying to take in all that he could of his surroundings to reassure himself that he was alone and in his room. It was just a dream, nothing more. But it felt so real, like it was happening again. It scared him to think that he was being held hostage by Hanzo only a couple days ago. The flashbacks still came to him. Lightning flashed outside his window. Mokuba jumped at the sound of thunder, but took deep breaths trying to calm his body. It was just a storm, that was all. Nothing like he had been through this past week.

Mokuba layback down and shut his eyes, trying to go back to sleep. He knew he was tired, his body felt tired. Mokuba was beginning to doze off into sleep, when he heard muffled noises coming from somewhere in the mansion. He turned on his side, wrapping the blankets tightly around himself and closed his eyes again. Still those muffled noises kept him awake.

Mokuba got out of bed, deciding he might as well see what's making all the racket. He opened his door and looked down the hall. Seto's office door was opened just a crack and was letting light come through. This didn't actually surprise Mokuba, he knew his brother would sometimes stay up all through out the night working on a project or documents but he also noticed the noises were coming from there as well.

He slowly made his way towards Seto's office and crouched down low, looking through the small crack. Mokuba was a bit confused, seeing as Seto seemed to be having a very serious conversation with Isono and Mokuba knew Isono was suppose to have gone home hours ago.

"Are you really sure about this?" Isono asked with desperation.

"I'm not, but it's the only solution. I have to do it."

"But Mr. Kaiba… how do you know it'll even make things better?"

"If I go away to a place where there isn't anyone to hold a grudge against me, than I'm guessing it will make things better and safer." Isono fell silent, looking at Seto. Mokuba had never seen Isono so upset in his life. He wondered what they were talking about.

"Mr. Kaiba, I'd give anything for you to reconsider."

"I know Isono, but it's something I have to do."

"But, Sir, you don't understand. This company has been my whole life. I've worked here for the past five years; you can't expect me to just leave all of this behind me. Kaiba Corp. is the only place I can call home, sir. There is no other place I'd rather work." Seto gave Isono a sympathetic look. He knew as well as Mokuba that Isono was telling the truth, it explained why he would always come to work so early or would do anything on short notice at Seto's command. He was a good worker, and he was deeply devoted. Seto placed his hand on Isono's shoulder.

"Isono… I know how much this company means to you, but… I can't change my decision. I'm going to America and I'm taking Mokuba with me. There's no other solution. I don't want to leave my home, but I have to put Mokuba before anything. Isono, I almost lost him. You have no idea how horrible I felt knowing it was all my fault that he was in such great danger almost all the time. Don't act like it's not a big deal, you know how much Mokuba gets kidnapped. You know how much his life is in danger. Please Isono, don't make this any harder for me than it already is." The door creaked open, Seto and Isono's head turned towards the doorway. Mokuba stood completely still, staring at both of them.

"We're leaving?" Seto and Isono looked at one another, trying to think of something to say. Seto sighed and decided he had to tell him the truth.

"Yes Mokuba… we're moving to America."

"America?! But that's so far away!"

"I know Mokuba, and that's why we have to go there."

"B-But why?"

"Because we can't go on living our lives like this. Mokuba, your life was in danger. You could've died. And whose to say you won't die the next time that happens? Or the next? I can't risk losing you Mokuba, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that had ever happened."

"Nii-sama… this is the only place we can call home." Mokuba said, staring at his brother in disbelief.

"Mokuba, we don't have a home. We have no family, no friends, and nothing to lose but each other." Seto walked over to Mokuba, bringing him into his arms. "And I know it's hard, but this is something we have to do, for your sake. Hanzo was right. I would rather die than see you in pain. And I can't even imagine seeing you dead, either. So please…" Seto looked down into his brother's eyes, "Bare with me. Come to America. We always said that we would stick by each other's sides, well, this time you need to stick by my side."

Mokuba thought long and hard about this, but he felt as though he had no choice. His brother sounded dead set on doing this and he knew he couldn't stop his brother when he had made a decision. Mokuba also knew that he was desperate for his brother's support because under that tough looking Kaiba exterior, he was just as afraid as Mokuba was of the whole idea.

"Okay Nii-sama… let's do it."

* * *

It was cold. So very cold. How did it get so cold all of the sudden? Mokuba pondered these thoughts as he inched closer to his brother. Seto tried his best to stay attentive and focused as he held out his boarders pass to the security and went through. The airport was very quiet, much more quiet than airports usually are. Seto figured it was like that considering it was almost four a.m. in the morning. 

The two brothers walked towards a bench to sit on as they waited for their flight. Mokuba collapsed into his brother's lap, Seto could tell he was just yearning to get some sleep. Seto couldn't blame him, considering he felt like his body was about to fall apart from getting so little sleep. Seto wasn't much of a sleeper to begin with, but it was affected his body this time.

Seto started drifted to sleep when the airport announced flight 227 was boarding. Seto grumbled to himself, shaking Mokuba and waking him up. Both brothers trudged their way onto the airplane and into their seats. As the plane began to take off, Seto looked out the window, looking down at Domino City, his home. Had it really been his home all those years? Seto didn't even know what home was. Mokuba was looking out the window too.

"You're not going to turn back, are you?" Mokuba asked, sounding almost completely awake and quite serious. Seto was surprised by this; his brother knew him so well. In Seto's mind, turning back was never an option. Seto always moved forwards, never backwards. And when he made a decision, he would stick with it for the rest of his life. Seto wasn't quite sure if that was determination or self-confidence, but either way, he lived his life the same. Both brothers gazed down at their city in silence as they traveled above the clouds and soon it was out of sight, as if it had only been a dream.

"Welcome to America!" Someone yelled out as they finally exited customs. Seto was everything but happy. He wanted to shoot every smiling person he passed. He couldn't believe that many hours ago, he was sitting at home in his country with his own people. Everything seemed so… foreign. Which was weird for Seto, considering he had done a fair amount of traveling for his age so he thought he'd be use to such feelings.

There was a man waiting by the luggage area with a sign that read "Seto Kaiba" on it. Seto spotted it quickly and moved fast to make sure he didn't lose sight of him. He approached him, trying to look professional and together, but it was hard trying to hold such posture after such a long flight. The man stared at him a long time before speaking.

"Are you Mr. Kaiba?" Seto nodded. "Can you speak the language?" The man asked, making hand motions to try and help Set understand. Seto only got annoyed by this.

"Of course I know the language! Now are you the one driving me home?"

"Yes, my name is Steven."

"Whatever."

"Wasn't there suppose to be someone else with you?" At first Seto stared at him like he was the biggest idiot on earth, then he remembered Mokuba.

"Mokuba?" Seto twisted around, only to find Mokuba gone. Seto's eyes frantically searched the airport. "Oh no, Mokuba!" Seto began to panic. A whole new country and his brother was lost. His heart began to beat faster and faster until he spotted Mokuba across the lobby. He appeared to be talking with another person. His eyes widened as he watched the other person grab him and lead him off into another section of the airport.

"Mokuba!" Seto yelled, pushing through all the people crowded in the airport and moving as quickly as he could. Images were flashing through his mind and his heart ached, he couldn't bare to see his brother in pain again. He had to do everything in his power to save him. Seto leaped forward, grabbing the man next to Mokuba by the collar and slamming him against the wall. "Leave him alone!" Seto yelled.

"Nii-sama, stop it!" Mokuba cried, pushing Seto away. Seto took a step back with a bewildered look on his face, but his hand was still tightly fastened around the other man's collar. "He was just showing me the magazine stand." Seto quickly let go of the man and took another few steps back.

"Uh… sorry." Seto mumbled, almost to himself feeling ashamed and quite stupid as everyone around was watching him with wide eyes. Mokuba gave a loud sigh of frustration.

"I'm sorry" He said to the man, "But I have to go. Thank you anyway." Mokuba made his way back to the luggage pick up as Seto caught up with him.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just freaked cause you weren't with me and…"

"Nii-sama, the whole world isn't out to get me. This is America, things are different." Seto followed silently behind. He hoped that his brother was right so that his mind could finally be at peace and he could welcome the land of the free.

* * *

**A/N:** _So, I kinda feel like I rushed through this chapter a little bit, which I hope I didn't cause that would suck. And I also hope it took me a decent amount of time to post as well. School can be so unbearable sometimes. Oh, the anxiety. Anyways, I really appreciate all of your reviews, and I'm excited to have some new readers. I hope that everyone understands what was happening at the beginning of the chapter. Stay tuned for the next chapter._


	6. Phoned from Home

What'sInAName!!!: It was a dream, but it was also a flashback. I hope that didn't confuse you too much. I hope you like this chapter, I always try to make it more interesting with every chapter. Thanks for your review.

Afiong Bassey: Aww, you hate your dad? That stinks. I'm glad you liked the last chapter, hopefully you'll like this one even better! Thanks for your review!

Mystical Sand: Yay! Okay, now I don't feel as guilty. I thought it was something you might like. Yeah, this story is gonna go in a billion different places once this whole America episode gets started. Believe me, a whole bunch of stuff is gonna happen and I assure you, it's all quite original(or as original as Yu-Gi-Oh stories can get on Thank you dearly for the review, and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 6

_Phoned from Home  
_

"America is hot and sticky." Those were the first words Mokuba said after taking his first step on America land, or, well, concrete. Seto agreed with his younger sibling, it was blazing hot and he was wearing his trench coat. The air was also bothersome to Seto, it was smoggy and humid and his lungs burned when he inhaled. Seto hadn't the slightest clue what he had gotten himself into, but he tried to remain strong.

"Right this way sir" Steven said, leading both of them to the limo that awaited them. Steven opened the door for them and they climbed in. Even the limos here were weird. "Would you like me to take you to a restaurant somewhere after your long trip?"

"Just take us home." Steven started up the car and got them onto the highway. This was also a quiet trip for Mokuba and Seto. Each brother sat on opposite sides of the limo, both staring out the window and observing their surroundings. San Francisco was very different place from Domino, much different.

Mokuba sat completely still, trying to take in everything that was happening and keep himself together. But with every big building or tree they passed, it reminded him of home. Mokuba slowly broke down and started cry, bending all the way over and burying his face in his legs.

"Oh my, is he going to be okay? Should I pull over?" Steven asked, looking at Mokuba with the rear view mirror.

"No, just shut your trap already." Seto commanded. He couldn't believe the amount of air Steven had already consumed talking to him so much. Americans appeared to be much different from the Japanese.

Mokuba didn't stop crying. His slobs would grow louder at times. 'Where am I? Why am I here? I wanna go home, I wanna go home…' Mokuba thought to himself, clutching his legs more tightly, 'I wanna go home!' He felt so lost, so trapped in this foreign country. He desperately wanted to turn back now, but he knew he couldn't. In that moment, Mokuba felt more than alone than he ever had in his entire life.

"Are you sure he's okay? I can't bare to hear him in that condition. Let me just pull over and we can-"

"No dammit! Drive or you're fired!" Seto yelled. Seto could tell Steven wanted to say more but finally decided to remain quiet. Seto looked over at his brother, the way he was crying, the way he was struggling within himself. He could tell what his brother was feeling, he knew Mokuba better than anyone else but he kept to himself. Mokuba needed to get this all out and he could tell Mokuba had been holding it all in since they reached the airport in Japan.

When they finally reached their new house, Mokuba was curled up on the seat, staring out the window with a blank look on his face. "We're here." Steven announced quietly as he got out of the car and opened it for Seto and Mokuba. Seto moved over next to Mokuba.

"Come on Mokuba, we're here." He said, placing his hand on Mokuba's shoulder ever so gently. Mokuba's eyes looked over at Seto's and without a word, he sat up and followed his brother out of the car.

"Well, here it is. You're new home!" Steven said cheerfully, sounding like someone on a television show. Seto got out the key and opened the door. The house echoed as the door made a quiet creak. It was empty. He didn't expect it to be any other way since not a lot of their furniture had been moved in yet, but in a much more deeper and emotional way, he was very empty. "Not half bad" Steven said, walking in and exploring the place for himself. Seto looked down at Mokuba.

"You ready?" Seto asked. Mokuba grabbed the back of his trench coat and clung to it like he had the first day they arrived at Gozaburo's house. Seto made his way through the door and into the empty place they would now call home.

"Damn, I would kill for a place like this." Seto glared at him.

"Would you please leave?"

"But, I work for you full time. Where am I supposed to go?"

"Somewhere other than here." Steven frowned, a bit hurt by what he had said, but obediently walked out of the house and no longer was in site. Seto gave a sigh of relief, this new butler was going to be a real pain in the ass. He turned and looked down at his brother. "Mokuba… do you wanna talk about all this? I know all this change must be very hard on you, believe me, it's hard on me too."

"I wanna go home." There it was. Not even a chance to think it all through, Mokuba just said it and left it out there in the open. At first, Mokuba felt guilty saying it, but it had just seemed to come out without warning and it was the only thing he could think about. Seto turned around and knelt in front of him. He spotted tears already forming in Mokuba's eyes.

"I know you do Kiddo, and I do too. America really isn't what it's made up to be. But, we have to be strong, okay? We have to be strong and stick together. We are truly the only people we've got now that we're here, but let's try to make the most of it." His brother was always trying to make him feel better; Mokuba felt even more guilty putting his brother in that position.

"You're right big brother, I'll try my best." He walked over and gave Seto a hug, wrapping his arms around Seto's neck and never wanting to let him go. Seto was the one familiar thing he could hold onto in this country.

Seto returned Mokuba's hug with a tight squeeze as well in the meanwhile trying to remind himself that this was all for his brother and his safety. Mokuba's funeral came to his mind and he knew that he would rather live in this empty house in this smoggy city any day rather than lose his brother.

"Careful with that, will you?" Seto ordered, close to smacking all the movers over the head. Seto gave a loud sigh and sat down. Who knew that moving could be such a stressful task? He remembered his childhood, how when his parents had died all that they really kept were their clothes and a very few meaningful things. And when they had moved in with Gozaburo, they took even less with them. Seto had never really moved a day in his life.

"Everything is going swell Mr. Kaiba, the last of it should be out of the moving van in no time." Steven announced with pride. Seto gave him another angry glare.

"Well make sure it all gets in here. And if one thing of mine is damaged, you have no idea what I will do to all of you." He threatened in a low voice.

"Yes sir!" Steven ran off and disappeared out the door once again. Seto sighed once again and started to rub his temples. His cell phone began to vibrate on the kitchen table. Seto eyed it for a moment before getting up and giving a loud moan.

"What now?" He said to himself, pressing a button and putting the cell phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Mr. Kaiba! Thank goodness! I thought I'd never reach you."

"Isono?" Seto got to his feet. "Isono, where are you? How did you get my number?"

"Oh, well I'm actually in a phone booth, Sir. I've been calling operators all week trying to get your number. How are you?"

"I'm… alright, I suppose. What about you? What are you doing now? Have you found a job yet?"

"Well, not quite. I've gone through almost every single ad in the newspaper but I can't seem to find a job. I got a job at this one fast food restaurant but… nothing can really compare to my employment with you, Sir. And it doesn't exactly pay the bills either, I might have to move myself." A bolt of worry shot through Seto as he gripped his cell phone tightly against his ear.

"I'll send you money."

"What?"

"You don't need to worry, I'll send you money every month till you get back onto your feet." Isono was speechless for a moment.

"But Sir, you really don't need to do that. I'll find a way somehow."

"No, really, I must. You have worked for me since day one and I should've paid you more anyway."

"Sir, you paid me more than more butlers get paid."

"That still doesn't add up to everything you've done for me in return. Believe me Isono, the butler I've got here is completely useless compared to you could do." Seto froze up for a moment. He was actually shocked to see himself so openly opening his heart to Isono. But Seto quickly shook it off; Isono had seen his ups and downs and was one of the very few people who had actually seen him cry. Isono watching him when he was on top and when he was sunk in the deep end and he knew he shouldn't feel like he would have to hide any of that.

"Oh Mr. Kaiba… I promise you. Once I get a job, the minute I save up enough money I'm going over there to visit you. No, I'll save up enough to live near you. Mr. Kaiba, you and Master Mokuba have been like family to me for years now and I would never ever want to be separated from that. But, that reminds me, how is Master Mokuba? Is he doing okay?"

"I don't know Isono… this is going to be really hard, and I don't how much of this he can take."

"Mr. Kaiba! The movers have everything in the house, would you like me to sign all the papers for you?" Steven asked as he bounded into the room.

"Can't you see I'm on the phone?!" Seto yelled, giving Steven another one of his deadly glares.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" he said shyly as he inched away and out of the room.

"Ug… that man annoys the hell out of me. Look Isono, I need to go. But… I'm sure we're be able to talk once again soon. Till then you can just send me e-mails, I'm sure it would cost less."

"Alright Mr. Kaiba, I will. I wish the best to you Sir. You and your brother." Seto hung up. He couldn't believe he had actually just had a conversation with Isono. A real conversation that didn't involved business. Seto put his onto the table. What was he doing here?

* * *

**A/N:**_Okay, so it's getting really hard trying to think of one word titles, so sorry if my titles have been sucking lately. I'm trying my best. I was actually quite surprised, cause I wrote this whole chapter in one day, which means more chapters are going to be easily write able as well. I hope I didn't make Seto sound too out of character though, I figured desperate times call for desperate measures and Seto is feeling quite desperate as I'm sure you all can tell. And, oh my gosh, don't you love how I made Isono somewhat important in this story? Yeah, I know, it's amazing. Anyways, hope you liked the chapter and a new chapter will be up probably really, really soon!_


	7. Play the Game

AmePiper: Thanks for the review! I hope this holds the answers to all your mind boggling questions! Enjoy!

Kikoken: Wow, thanks for every single review! I know, I do make some silly mistakes. I'm not one to read over my chapter before I post it. I don't usually have time for that since I'm just so focused on trying to get it done since I have so much more to do these days. But I'll try harder to minimize the spelling errors for your reading pleasure. I do hope you enjoy this chapter!

Mystical Sand: I don't know what to think of Steven, to tell you the truth. I mean, he is my own character, but he just sort of came out of nowhere. I actually wasn't planning on Seto having a new butler, but it just sort of happened when I was writing the chapter. I think this chapter will hold answers to some of your questions. Enjoy!

Afiong Bassey: I'm sorry this took so long to update, I hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 7

_Play the Game_

Mokuba stood very still. He had a feeling the children standing only a few feet away from him hadn't noticed he was even there. Seto stood by Mokuba's side with his hand on Mokuba's shoulder. Mokuba wanted more than anything to just drop out of school all together and stop going in that moment. The feeling of standing alone against the world was not an uncommon feeling. He had felt that way ever since they had moved from Japan.

"You'll do fine" Seto said, feeling as though he should say something. He knew his brother was feeling frightful, but he had to go to school. Mokuba looked up at him with big, hopeful eyes. His expression told him 'Please don't leave me here all alone, Nii-sama' in a small and feeble voice. Seto replied with a facial expression that said 'You can do this, I know you can. Just believe in yourself.' Mokuba looked away and left Seto's side as the bus arrived. "Have a good day at school!" Seto called. Mokuba got onto the bus without giving Seto even a look.

The bus was filled with all sorts of noise exchanged between students. Mokuba walked silently through the aisle. A couple kids gave him a weird look here and there, but otherwise he was invisible. He sat by himself all the way in the back of the bus. He felt safe there. He was beginning to feel a bit better about his situation. If kids simply ignored him, he wouldn't have the hard time he did in Domino. Always getting picked on and bullied, he was beginning to become optimistic about the whole idea of living here.

Mokuba leaned his head against the window, staring out at the small neighborhoods they passed. His anxiety returned to him as he started to remember the day before. His brother and his teacher had a meeting and she said that he would have to skip a grade or two and attend 7th grade instead of 5th because his studies in Japan had been so advanced that it was the appropriate level of learning for him. Mokuba sort of wished his brother hadn't agreed to the whole idea, he was already in a new school and he didn't want to be put in an even newer situation, but his brother agreed to it. Sometimes Seto didn't quite understand him and only saw things logically instead of emotionally. Sometimes he wouldn't even factor in emotions, he would just do it based on fact.

The bus came to a stop and a flood of kids ran out of the bus and bounded towards the school entrance. Mokuba slowly made his way off the bus and into the school. He looked around, clutching his schedule in his hand and making an effort not to run into anyone. 'So far, so good' Mokuba thought to himself as he made his way safely into his classroom. He had received only a few weird glances from other students and that was all. Hopefully the weird glances would go away and he would really be invisible.

The hallways were noisier than ever and packed full of chattering students. Mokuba tried as carefully as he could to slip around and through the crowds to his first period class as fast as he could. There was some amount of shoving, but Mokuba did his best to avoid such encounters as he silently slipped into his homeroom class. 'Home free' Mokuba thought to himself, letting out a sigh of relief and sitting down. It was long after he had sat down that the bell had rung and the students funneled through the doorway and to their seats. A kid approached Mokuba's desk.

"That's my seat, get out." The boy said with a growl. Mokuba got up without a word and moved to the side. The boy glared at him before taking his seat. Already Mokuba felt hated and he hadn't even done anything wrong.

"Good morning students!" the teacher said with a singsong voice as she walked into the classroom. "I'm sure you've already guessed that we have a special new student in our classroom this morning!" She said with peppiness. The teachers in Japan were nothing like this. Most of them were quite strict and to the point, Mokuba had never seen such kindness and enthusiasm from a teacher. When Mokuba finally snapped back from his thoughts, he noticed that everyone in the room was staring right at him. The teacher made a gesture for him to come to the front.

"Students, this is Mokuba Kaiba. He's from Domino City, Japan!" The students said nothing, only staring at him as if he were some exotic zoo animal. "Would you like to say a couple words about yourself?" The teacher asked, giving him a big and huge smile. She seemed nice enough, but she was starting to creep Mokuba out.

"Um…" His eyes went right to the floor.

"What kind of name is Mokuba?" A boy sneered. Mokuba instantly felt embarrassed and ashamed.

"John, that's very rude. Mokuba is a Japanese name."

"More like a name for a freakish looking pokemon!" The rest of the class began to laugh. Mokuba felt so out of place, he wanted to just run out of the room but he knew that it would only make the situation worse.

"That's it John, one more wise guy comment and I'm sending you out of the classroom." The teacher turned to Mokuba, "Please take your seat right over there. I'm sorry for my class's behavior." Mokuba gave a small nod and made his way to the back of the room. It was going to be a long day that was for sure.

* * *

"Well, I will admit, your resume is very… different." Mr. Covey said, laying the paper down, "But I'm not exactly sure what you have to offer is what my company is looking for."

"What are you talking about? Duel disks will change the way card games are played forever, how could you say that it's not what you're looking for?" Mr. Covey sighed, folding his hands on his desk and leaning back in his chair. "I'm telling you, my ideas will be a hit. Kids love them in Japan!"

"Well, that's just the thing. You see, another company has already released a product almost exactly like yours to the American audience so releasing this will only cost us money and won't make us a lot of profit."

"You're kidding me, I'm the one who came up with the idea of virtual dueling! What company has already produced it?"

"Industrial Illusions." Seto froze up for a moment. "It's true" Mr. Covey continued, "If you want to really get your gaming ideas out there, you'll have to go to that company to make any real success. It's the biggest gaming company in all of America, and our gaming company will never be able to compete against it. That's why my company doesn't sell card game products anymore." Seto gritted his teeth with anger.

"How dare that bastard steal my ideas…" Seto sighed, looking back up at Mr. Covey. "Do you know any other companies that might take my idea?"

"Well, I do know a couple I could list for you…"

* * *

"We're sorry, but you're just not what we're looking for Sito Kaiba."

"It's SETO Kaiba." Seto spat angrily.

"Well, whoever you are, we don't need you."

"Look buddy, I've run a company five times more successful than this shack and have made millions. Don't you think you're company could use an employee with experience like mine?" Mr. Johnson glared at Seto.

"Maybe we could use the experience, but I'm not exactly hiring kids right now."

"Kids? I'm eighteen years old and I've been running my own company since I was fifteen. I'm no kid." Mr. Johnson gave a small chuckle. Seto could feel his anger begin to boil inside himself. After Mr. Johnson finished chuckling, he looked Seto in the eye.

"Look kid, it's a big, bad world out there. I don't know what it's like in Japan, but people don't just hand you what you want in the United States. You have to work for what you want," Mr. Johnson glanced back down at the resume in front of him, "And from the resume you wrote, you sound kind of stuck up and over confident. If you want a word of advice, change that. No one will hire an arrogant teenager." Seto stood up, slamming his hands onto Mr. Johnson's desk.

"I didn't come here to get insulted!"

"It's called a advice, kid. You'll need a lot of it to make it in this country if you have an attitude like that."

"I don't need to take this."

"Then leave my office." Seto was out the door without another glance or reply. It appeared as though finding a job in this city was going to be harder than he thought. Seto walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. He pulled a small notebook out of his trenchcoat and looked at the addresses and companies written down. Three had already been crossed out. Four, including the one he had just walked out of. There were only two more companies left to visit, and Industrial Illusions was one of them. Seto quivered at the thought of even entering the company building that inhabited Pegasus.

Seto looked down at his watch. School was almost out for Mokuba. He decided to pick his brother up today since it was his first day of school in America. He flipped out his phone and dialed Steven's number.

"Hello?"

"Steven, I'm picking up Mokuba today."

"You are? But then what am I suppose to do? I've been sitting around all day waiting for orders but you haven't given me any."

"Well then clean our house or something. Or start on dinner."

"But-"

"Just do it." Seto hung up. It was going to take a lot of work getting through to that guy. He moved swiftly to his car and made sure to be in front of Mokuba's school just as the bell rung for everyone to leave. Seto stood outside of the car, his eyes searching the crowds of children running out of the school. He heard shouting from the other side of the school. Seto had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys, sorry for the major delay. School, work, drama. Add all those together and you don't end up having a lot of time to yourself. I'm hoping this chapter wasn't terrible or anything. I promise to try and update more quickly next time. Thanks for all the great reviews!_

_P.S: I've also changed some of the chapter names because it's just become way too hard making them all one word so now they are a bit more trendy… I think. Just letting you guys know._


	8. Who You Are

AmePiper: I didn't know you weren't American! Where are you from? Wow, that's so exciting! I have an international reader! Yes, I'm American, but I feel as though I'm one of those "cool" Americans, if that makes any sense. But anyways, I'm glad your reading this, because I definitely have a lot of underlying themes for this story and one of them is American life and immigration. My Mom is an immigrant, so it's sort of a view of life in America and how it's culturally and ethnically different from other countries. But anyways, thanks so much for the review and sorry for the late update!

Mystical Sand: Oh yes, the confrontation with Pegasus shall prove to be quite eventful. I'm sorry this chapter was so short, but believe me, it's going to get much better. Thanks for the review!

Afiong Bassey: Sorry I updated so late!! I hope you'll forgive me and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 8

_Who You Are_

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Seto wandered slowly toward the children that were standing in a circle.

"You think you're so smart, don't you? Just because you're supposed to be two grades below us, you think you're better than the rest of us!" John growled.

"Yeah!" another boy sneered. As Seto got closer and closer, he starting figuring out what was going on. A boy held both Mokuba's hands behind his back and a moment later he shoved him into another boy who did the same thing. "Come on Japan, aren't you going to defend yourself?"

"Yeah, didn't you learn how to be a samurai or something back in your old school?"

"If you're so tough, why don't you stand up for yourself?" The last boy that held Mokuba shoved him onto the ground. Mokuba staggered as he tried to recover from his dizziness. John stepped in front of Mokuba and into the circle staring at down at him. He had an evil grin on his face.

"So what's it going to be?" Mokuba slowly stood to his feet, turning his hands into fists as he stared John right in the eyes. He brought his fists up in fighting position, as did John. The crowd went silent as both opponents stepped forward. They were ready to launch at one another when a strong hand gripped John on the shoulder. "Hey, what the-" John turned around to find Seto hovering over him.

"Don't even think about hurting my little brother." John's face went from fear to amusement after he got a good look at Seto. He burst into laughter immediately.

"His brother's a freak too!" Suddenly the whole crowd was laughing along with him.

"Look at his clothes!"

"What kind of haircut is that?"

"Do all Japanese people dress weird?"

"I was actually scared of that guy for a moment!" All sorts of mean comments exploded from everyone as the kids continued to laugh. Seto was baffled. He had gone from complete control of the situation to the laughing stock of a bunch of middle school kids in only a matter of seconds and he wasn't even sure of what he had done that had been funny.

Mokuba, on the other hand, was utterly embarrassed. He quickly made his way past the crowd and to the car, and even then he could still hear them. "Mokuba! Wait up!" His brother called after him, but he didn't stop until he had reached the car.

"Mokuba, I-"

"Just open the door."

"But I just wanted…"

"I said open the door NOW." Seto unlocked the door and they both sat in the seats of the car silently. Mokuba violently threw his backpack into the back of the car and threw on his seat belt. "Let's go already." Seto started the car and began to drive.

"I hate being Japanese." Mokuba announced coldly after a few minutes of silence between both brothers. Seto looked over at his brother.

"What? Why do you hate being Japanese? You are Japanese. You can't hate who you are."

"Oh yes I can. I hate my name, I hate my accent, and I hate Japan."

"Come on Mokuba, it's you're first day of school. How can you go from being a Japanese citizen to self loathing in one day?" Mokuba crossed his arms and staring sternly out the window.

"All the kids made fun of me. I could barely keep up with half the English they were speaking, but I knew they were making fun of me. What kind of name is Mokuba anyway?"

"Mokuba is a great name. Since when have you ever had a problem with your name?"

"My name means 'wooden horse'. Who names their child after a wooden horse? I don't know what Mom was thinking when she named me that."

"Don't insult your mother."

"Why? She's dead anyways, so who cares?" Seto pulled the car over and stopped it on a random street. He turned his whole body around and the most serious face Mokuba had ever seen.

"Don't you dare say ANYTHING bad about your mother. I don't care how much you decide to hate being Japanese, don't bring Mom into this." Seto started up the car again and they didn't say another word to each other. When they stopped in front of their new home, Mokuba looked over at his brother.

"I'm sorry Nii-sama." Mokuba said quietly. Seto put his arm around Mokuba's neck and brought him closer as he gave him a kiss on the head.

"It's fine Mokuba." They entered what seemed as though a stranger's house. But they were both aware that this was their new home. The Kaiba mansion was already starting to seem like a distant memory to them. "So how was your first day of school?"

"I think you have an idea of how that went. How was your first day of trying to build up another company?"

"Maybe even worse than your day at school."

"Really? What happened?" Seto sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"I don't really want to talk about it. Let's just leave at, it was bad." Seto and Mokuba walked through the living room and to the kitchen where Steven was running about trying to make dinner. "Steven, what are you doing?"

"Making dinner, Sir, like you asked." Mokuba and Seto stood in the room, just watching him for a moment as he was boiling water, cutting vegetables, and stirring soups all at the same time.

"I feel kind of bad for him, Nii-sama." Seto placed his hand on Mokuba's head in silence before retiring to his room. As he slowly made his way up the gloomy steps, he felt a wave of anxiety as he remembered the day he had just had. Seto had never been talked to in such a way in his life, talked to like he was less than. Only when he was under Gozaburo's custody did he ever feel he was lower class, but otherwise, Seto was seen as a powerful man in the eyes of Japan. Would Seto be able to make it in Japan? Could Kaiba Corp. strive in America as it did in Japan? Seto wasn't quite sure what his plan was anymore; the day had thrown him off a bit. But, as he always did, he would manage and survive.

* * *

"Nii-sama?" Mokuba poked his head into his brother's room. He was surprised to see Seto lying in his bed with reading glasses on and a thick novel in his hand. This must've been the first he had ever seen his brother not on a computer or working away the night hours. Seto looked up from his book. 

"Mokuba, what are you doing up? It's late." At first, Mokuba was quiet. He felt ashamed and guilty for ruining his brother's first moment of peace in his life. He had wanted time with his brother, but the idea now seemed like a crime after seeing his brother enjoying his time alone. Tears began to well up in Mokuba's eyes. Seto stared at him with concern.

"Mokuba?" He placed the book down and removed his glasses, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry Nii-sama!" Mokuba yelled, "I didn't mean to ruin your reading time!"

"Mokuba, you haven't ruined anything. Come here and lay down with me." Seto moved over and pulled open the covers. Mokuba quickly scurried over to the bed and climbed in, curling up right next to his brother as he placed his head on Seto's chest. A smile appeared on Mokuba's face, his brother's presence always gave him security. Seto put his arm around Mokuba.

"Are you sure I didn't ruin anything for you?" Mokuba asked with a whisper as he closed his eyes.

"I'm positive." Seto replied. He pulled his brother close smiling tenderly as Mokuba drifted to sleep. If only Mokuba knew what strength he gave Seto. Seto didn't think Mokuba really knew a lot that went on in his mind half the time. How Mokuba hadn't ruined his moment at all, how he had actually been waiting and wishing for Mokuba to appear in his doorway like old times just so he could have Mokuba close to him.

In that moment, Seto knew. He knew how hard this transition was going to be, that there were going to be a lot of ups and downs as well as challenges and difficulties in the next several months. But he had to stick by his own ideas and values and he had to succeed. Seto Kaiba was not one to give up easily. Seto had to make it, no matter what happened. He needed to strive and survive.

* * *

**A/N:**_Hey guys! I'm really REALLY sorry I updated so late! I had so much intention on updating much more quickly, but I got a little lost with school and what not. I assure you there's more to come and I've been planning out some REALLY great ideas for this story. You have no idea, I'm planning on this story being the longest and most eventful yet. And there are lots more twists and turns along the way. I'm sorry this chapter was kind of short, but I promise you I'm starting on chapter 9 right after I post this so stay tuned and please keep reading!_


	9. Welcome to America

AmePiper: I've been having a bad week too! Geez, gotta hate when that happens, eh? Oh, I totally had a feeling you were from Britain. Yeah, I'm American. Although I think I reserve the right to call myself European… kinda. My Mom immigrated from Italy, her main homeland, she kinda lived all over the world. I'm glad you liked the chapter! I have a feeling you'll like this chapter a lot too. Thanks for the review!

STEPHENS #1 FAN!: I WANT TO BE YOU WHEN I GROW UP AND MARRY ALPHONS TWO! I love you.

Afiong Bassey: Hahaha, yeah, Seto doesn't quite know how to be 'hip' in this country. I'm glad you're involved in the story, I like the make my readers have a connection to a story rather than just reading it and being disconnected from it. I'm glad you're not mad and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Mystical Sand: I'm glad you're liking Steven, cause I definately have a lot more ideas for him for the rest of the story and I'm planning on giving him more of a back story than I had originially planned to give him when I first started this story. I have a lot more ideas for this story and I think you're going to be really pleased with the results. And, oh yeah, here's the Pegasus/Seto confrontation you've been waiting for! Thanks for the review.

Chapter 9

_Welcome to America_

"I'm sorry, you're just not what we're looking for." Seto slammed down the phone in anger and let out a loud yell in frustration. Steven looked over from where he stood as he was cleaning the kitchen over at Seto.

"Still no luck?" Steven asked. Seto turned his head and glared. Steven quickly looked away and started cleaning again.

"I can't believe this…" Seto said to himself, "You would never be able to guess that I've made millions of dollars by the way these people treat me. They see me like I'm some sort of kid. Inexperienced and arrogant, ha. As if they have the right to judge me because I only have a high school diploma. At least I have that, I was quite ready to quite school back in Japan."

"Well, you'll find America is quite different from Japan," Steven stated, "I don't know how things worked in Japan, but in America often times you'll find having a college degree will make a big difference on the business field. People will make hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars more than some people just on the fact that they have a college degree." Once again, Seto gave Steven that deathly glare. But this time Steven wasn't frightened by it and continued. "Just hear me out…"

"I'm not paying you to talk, I'm paying you to work" Seto spat. Steven opened his mouth to reply when the door bell rang. Steven and Seto both looked at each other. "Well, go get it." Steven rolled his eyes as he set the rag he had been cleaning with on the counter and headed to the door. He turned the knob and the stranger walked in almost immediately as if he had lived there all his life.

"Kaiba-boy! What a pleasant surprise!" Pegasus said in a seductive voice as he strolled into the room. Seto stood to his feet.

"Pegasus, how did you find out where I lived?"

"Believe me Kaiba, I have my ways." Seto stood up in a position that looked as though he was getting ready to fight which only caused Pegasus to smile. "I hear you're trying to rebuild the Kaiba Corp. empire. Not going to well, is it?"

"Yeah, because you stole MY ideas and established them here! I'll sue you before you know it." Pegasus laughed in response. His laughter echoed through out the house leaving an eerie feeling in the room once he had finished.

"Oh Kaiba-boy, you never cease to amuse me. There's no way you'll be able to prove anything. I own the gaming company in this country and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh, and is that why you're here?" Seto gritted his teeth. He could feel his body beginning to heat up. His fists itching to fight, but Seto held his ground. He would handle this situation civilly. He couldn't show Pegasus it affected him.

"Not quite" Pegasus said, sitting himself down on the couch. His eyes wandered the room, searching the area. "Where's that squirt of a brother you have?" Seto's heart jumped at the thought of Mokuba. Seto couldn't let Pegasus near his brother, he wouldn't risk Mokuba getting hurt.

"He has nothing to do with this, leave Mokuba out of it."

"Oh please Kaiba-boy, as if I don't know the reason why you left that wretched country Japan." Seto's eyes widened. How did Pegasus know what had happened? No one except the doctor and Isono knew his reasons behind leaving, how could he have possibly found out? Seto tried to shake off his anxiety and stay in control of the situation.

"Look Pegasus, I don't know what you've found out, but I could care less. Now tell me why you're here before I call the police to remove you from this house."

"Now, now Kaiba-boy, no reason to be so spiteful. I simply came here to… make you an offer." Seto raised one eyebrow.

"What kind of offer would that be exactly?" A grin emerged on Pegasus's face as he stood to his feet.

"A job offer."

"No."

"Are you sure you want do that Kaiba?"

"There is no way in HELL I'm working for you. I'd rather choke myself than work for the likes of you." The room became very quiet. Pegasus looked over and grabbed a picture of Mokuba off the coffee table near the couch, staring at the picture with much interest. Pegasus gave a sigh before speaking again.

"It's a pity you feel that way considering you probably won't find any other places that will hire someone like you to work for them. That means you'll be unemployed," Pegasus looked up to Seto, "And then what will happen to your dear little brother?"

"I have other ways of getting money, Pegasus."

"Of course you do. That is until I shut down your precise Kaiba Corp. in Japan." Seto's heart stop in mid-beat. His hands began to shake.

"What did you say?"

"That's right Seto. After you left, I made an offer to the new president of Kaiba Corp. An offer he couldn't refuse. Now I own Kaiba Corp., and I have every intent of shutting it down for good." Seto could barely breathe. How could this be happening? His company? His dream? Everything he had ever worked for, gone? "Looks like you're going to be out of money soon." Reality was hitting Seto hard. What was he going to do? If Kaiba Corp. really was going to be shut down, how would he live?

"I can tell this is a hard time for you" Pegasus stated, "I'll be back later to hear what you have to say in response to my offer. But otherwise, welcome to America my dear old friend." And with that, the great Maximillion Pegasus left, leaving the great Seto Kaiba in shock and jobless.

* * *

"And that's when Charles Darwin thought up his theory of evolution." Mokuba would've liked to learn about Darwinism in class, he would've liked to pay attention and truly listened to what his teacher had to say. But it was quite difficult when John and his other buddies in class were doing everything to make sure he was miserable. The constant spit balls and paper clips thrown to the back of his head gave Mokuba a headache by the end of class. 

The bell rang and Mokuba was happy to be one of the first people out the door. A chance at freedom was what Mokuba needed. The headache Mokuba had was finally beginning to go away when someone came up from behind him and shoved him into the lockers as he was walking through the hallway. "That's for pearl harbor!" one of John's friends shouted before snickering as they walked away.

Mokuba was left in the hallway confused and feeling bad. He didn't quite know what John's friend meant by "that's for pearl harbor" but then he just guessed that it was just one of those racist and ignorant comments. Mokuba sighed. His day had already been going really terrible and then John's friend went and said that to him. Mokuba had felt lower than he did before as he slowly made his way to English class. He stopped when he saw a student skating through the hallway on some sort of wheely shoes. Mokuba stopped and stared like the rest of his classmates as he proceeded to do some tricks until the teachers yelled at him to come to class. Mokuba made his way towards class, as did everyone else when a hand reached for his shoulder.

"Hey, aren't you the new kid? From Japan?" the boy on the wheels asked. Mokuba turned around and stared at him. Someone had approached him, and hadn't made a mean comment. "My name is James Gooding, but you can call me Jimmy. What's your name?"

"Oh… well, my name's Mokuba Kaiba." Jimmy held out his hand. Mokuba stared at it for a while.

"Shake hands?"

"Oh, right." Mokuba and Jimmy took each other's hand and shook it. Mokuba felt slightly embarrassed for his inexperienced ways. "Nice to meet you."

"Same." The bell rang.

"Uh oh." Both Jimmy and Mokuba rushed into class. But Mokuba didn't care that the teacher was most likely going to yell at him, he was too happy knowing there was one person in this whole school that was civil to him and he couldn't wait for the next chance to talk to him some more.

When the bell rang signaling next period, Mokuba rushed to Jimmy's side. "Hey, sorry about making you late." Mokuba apologized.

"Oh, it's no problem at all. The teacher already has it out for me because I skate in the hallways and the teachers hate it when I do that."

"Oh, I see." Jimmy and Mokuba started walking together through the hallway. "So what class do you have now?"

"I have lunch, you?"

"Same!"

"Cool, want to sit with me and my friends?" Mokuba nodded. This was just too good to be true. He couldn't believe he was actually going to be sitting with someone today. He was starting to think maybe this day hadn't been ruined.

Mokuba followed quickly behind Jimmy as he skated his way over to the table. "Guys, I want you to meet Mokuba. Mokuba, this is Elizabeth," Jimmy pointed to a short girl with long black hair and glowing green eyes, whom gave him a tiny wave shyly, "This is Christopher, but he likes to be called Chris." He pointed to a somewhat tall guy that had bushy blonde hair and a surfer look to him.

"Hey." He said, holding out his fist. Mokuba stared at it for a moment.

"This is what you do," Jimmy instructed, forming his own hand into a fist and hitting Chris's fist with his own. "It's called pounding it, it's kind of like shaking hands."

"Except much cooler" Chris added, the girl that sat beside him roller her eyes in response to his statement. Mokuba turned and noticed her, and found himself staring, he was very interested in finding out who she was.

"And last but not least, this is Marie." Chris pointed to the tall girl with blue eyes and radiant beauty. She smiled.

"Welcome to America."

* * *

**A/N:**_ I told you I was gonna update fast!!! The next day baby, I'm on a roll here. Wow, this is going to be a long author's note, I hope you guys don't mind. Okay, so I totally didn't mean for both those scenes to end with "Welcome to America", I just sort of discovered it after I made some edits. Kind of quirky though, right? Well, I thought it was cute. Anyways, like I said, I updated much more quickly this time, I didn't I? I can't wait to get started on the next chapter! What will be in store for our heroes next? Hope you're enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Oh, and on a side note, the shoes that Jimmy was wearing, their these kinds of shoes that look like shoes, but if you do a certain thing, wheels pop out of the bottom and you can skate along. Yeah, they're pretty spiffy, my friend had a pair once. He told me their called heelys or something, but anyways, just wanted to let you guys know so you wouldn't think he was just skating around school with roller blades. Yeah, just thought I'd let you guys know._


	10. True Colors

AlwaysConfused: I'm happy you liked my speed, but I'm a little confused by your name. I hope my story isn't confusing you! Do let me know what parts need to be explained if they are. Anyways, thanks for the review!

Mystical Sand: I'm happy you love Steven! I think a lot of my readers are actually a fan of him, which definitely makes me happy considering not a lot of people are fond of made up characters, but I'm glad I can make this one likable. I hope you're liking my speed and thanks for the review!

AmePiper: Yeah, my mom actually speaks 5 languages if you can believe that. She pretty much traveled the world. I really want to do that sometime in my life. I'm actually not quite sure what made me think you were British, I think it might've been something about your username. I'm not exactly sure how though. I didn't know there were different kinds of American accents, I mean, if you're from another country and you moved here or you were born here and your parents are from another country that's another story, but otherwise, I didn't really think there were different kinds of American accents. I wish I had an Irish accent though, that would be awesome! But anyways, enough about me, let's get to the chapter!

Afiong Bassey: I know! I'm happy for Mokuba. You'll have to tell me which friend you like the most a few chapters later sometime. I hope you liked this fast update as well! Thanks for the review.

Chapter 10

_True Colors_

Mokuba sat on the steps in front of his school with a smile on his face as he recalled the day he had just lived. He had successfully gained a friend and found himself a table to sit at during lunch. Mokuba thought maybe being in America wouldn't be so bad. Having Jimmy as a friend already proved to be more friends than he had ever had in Japan, so he was looking forward to a very promising year. Mokuba stood up when he saw Steven drive up in front of the school, and with his head up high he walked to the car and got in.

"Hey Steven," Mokuba said in a cheery voice, but Steven didn't respond. His eyes were looking straight ahead with a serious face on. It was as if he didn't even hear Mokuba. Mokuba gave him an odd look. "What's wrong?" Still Steven didn't respond, he merely started up the car and drove home.

When Mokuba walked into the house, there was a cold air that drifted all through out the house that caused Mokuba to shiver with fear. Something bad had happened, he could feel it. "Nii-sama?" Mokuba said as he began to wander up the stairs and towards Seto's room. "Nii-sama, is everything…" As Mokuba opened the door, he stopped midway after seeing his brother curled up on his bed, a completely blank face.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba called out as he ran to his brother's side, "Nii-sama, are you okay?" He placed his hands on Seto's shoulders and shook him gently. Seto still remained as if he were frozen in time. Steven quietly walked into the room as Mokuba made more attempts to bring his brother back to reality.

"What happened to him?!" Mokuba demanded as he twisted around to face Steven. Steven looked down.

"A strange man made a visit to Mr. Kaiba today…"

"A strange man? Who was he? What did he do to my brother?" A million thoughts and feelings raced through Mokuba's head. He was scared out of his mind, what had been done to his brother?

"I'm not exactly sure who he was… he wore an odd red outfit and he had long, silver hair that covered one eye. I think his name was-"

"Pegasus."

"You know him too?" Steven asked in shock.

"What did he do to my brother?"

"He didn't exactly DO anything, they were just sort of talking. I'm not exactly sure what was said or what they were even talking about. Something about Kaiba Corp. and being shut down in Japan…"

"WHAT?!" Steven jumped when Mokuba yelled. Mokuba looked frantically at his brother's fragile state. "Nii-sama, is it true? Is it true?? They're going to shut down Kaiba Corp.??" Mokuba yelled with fright. Still there was no answer or sign of life that emerged from Seto's quiet state. Mokuba gripped both his hands on Seto's shoulders once again and shook him. "Nii-sama, please tell me it's not true! Please tell me Pegasus isn't shutting down Kaiba Corp.! After everything that has happened, after all the suffering we went through, how could Pegasus just take it away from us like that? How could he??" Still there was silence as tears slowly began to fall. "Nii-sama!"

The door bell made its statement by ringing at that moment. Steven quickly made his way down the stairs and to the door, only to open it to Pegasus. "I'm here to hear Seto's response to my job offer."

"Um… this isn't exactly a good time right now."

"Pegasus!" Pegasus and Steven turned to find Mokuba standing by the stairway, rage in his eyes.

"Mokuba-boy, my, haven't you grown?" He said with a giggle as he approached the young child.

"What have you done Pegasus?" Pegasus now stood directly in front of Mokuba.

"You ask some serious questions for a boy. What makes you think I've done anything?"

"You bought out Kaiba Corp., didn't you?"

"Now, now, Mokuba. Let's not jump to conclusions shall we?" Pegasus said, giving him a friendly smile. But Mokuba only returned an angry look. Revenge was the only thing on his mind at the moment.

"Oh really? Then how about we talk about how your eye was stolen by Bakura? How does it feel to be a Cyclops?" Now rage was built up in Pegasus as his eyes flared after Mokuba's statement. Pegasus launched himself at Mokuba, arms extended in front of him and ready to rip Mokuba apart. His grasp almost reached Mokuba when Seto dashed in front of Mokuba and returned Pegasus with a powerful push almost sending him to the ground.

"Don't you EVER come near my brother again!" Seto commanded. Pegasus started again by throwing himself back into fighting position and now was coming towards Seto. Seto held up his fist to throw it into Pegasus's face when Steven grabbed him from behind.

"Don't do it!" He yelled innocently. Seto, since he was restraint by Steven, pushed to the ground by Pegasus. Seto could no longer control himself as he thrashed all he could to try and get at Pegasus. "Please stop!" Steven begged.

"GET OFF ME NOW!" Seto yelled, throwing his elbow back and smashing it into Steven's nose. Blood splurged onto the ground after Steven gave a moan of agony. Mokuba gasped with horror at the sight. This act had even stopped Pegasus in his act as he stood there staring at him almost forgetting what was happened. Seto made no sign that he cared, he simply threw himself back onto his feet and got right up into Pegasus's face. "DON'T come into MY house and threaten MY brother and I with your manipulative talk. If you got something to say, call me on the phone. But don't ever show your face in my house AGAIN!"

"Very well then, I shall be going now," Pegasus said after recollecting himself and his composure. He bent over to give Mokuba one last smile. "It was great seeing you again Mokuba." Seto threw open the door and he left three of them standing with multiple emotions.

"Nii-sama, get some paper towels! We need to try and make the blood stop," Mokuba advised, rushing into the kitchen and returning with a roll of paper towels. He ripped off a piece and gave it to Steven.

"I'm not helping him." Mokuba looked up and over at his brother.

"Nii-sama, how can you say that after you did this to him?"

"He shouldn't have tried to restrain me!"

"He was just trying to stop you from getting into a violent fight." Seto crossed his arms and stuck up his nose.

"I don't care. He shouldn't have tried. I don't need anybody to help me, I can fight my own battles." Mokuba looked at him once more, now with eyes that held such spite and disappointment. He stood to his feet.

"What kind of person are you Seto Kaiba?" Mokuba left the room. Steven still lay on the floor, but his eyes watching the brothers. A wave of guilt came over Seto and suddenly he felt shocked and ashamed of what he had done. The way Mokuba had looked at him really made him see the monster inside himself. Mokuba always had a way of showing Seto his own true colors.

Mokuba quickly made his way to his room making sure to lock the door behind him. Seeing his brother's violent side always scared him, it always seemed as though Seto was a completely different person when he was violent. He would never think clearly and he would always yell. The memories of what had just happened before even scared him. Mokuba wished more than anything that Seto could be more civil in these situations, but he knew that his brother's pride would always get in the way of that whenever the opportunity arose to be the bigger man.

Seto stood in the middle of the room, feeling completely and utterly guilty. He looked over at Steven, whom sit sat on the ground with the paper towel glued to his nose. Seto sighed and walked over to him, holding out a hand. Steven stared at it. "Do you want a help up or not?" Seto growled. Steven quickly grabbed Seto's hand and got to his feet. Steven was about to say something, when Seto took this opportunity to speak for himself. "Look, I'm sorry about what I did back there, okay? I was just angry and I wasn't thinking right. I didn't mean to hit you."

"It's quite alright, Mr. Kaiba," Steven said, trying to give a friendly smile behind his bloodied paper towel. But Seto still looked as though something troubled him. "Is… something else wrong, Sir?" Steven asked. Seto quietly made his way up to Mokuba's room without replying to Steven.

"Mokuba?" He opened the door slowly and peeked in. Mokuba was curled up on his bed, his back turned to him. Mokuba was clutching a pillow to his chest and tiny muffled sobs could be heard across the room. Seto walked over to his bed side, sitting down beside him and putting his hand on Mokuba's head. "I'm really sorry about what happened. It was completely inappropriate, and I feel terrible that you had to see me act like that." Mokuba gave another sniffle before looking up.

"It's okay Nii-sama…" Mokuba said quietly, wiping his nose in his sleeve, "I forgive you."

"Well, I also need to talk to you about something else." Mokuba sat up and leaned against his brother. "I'm guessing you already know about what's happened to Kaiba Corp…" Tears were still flowing down Mokuba's cheek. He had to face the truth sometime. Both of them did.

"How could someone do that to us? He knew what that company symbolized," Mokuba angrily stated. Seto ran his hands through Mokuba's hair slowly, trying to soothe Mokuba's emotions.

"I know Mokuba, I know. But the thing is; now we're going to have to face the truth, and I'm going to have to find a job."

"But… where are you going to work? You've never had a job apart from Kaiba Corp…"

"I'm going to have to make a sacrifice Mokuba, I'm going to have to work for Pegasus."

"Pegasus?! No! You can't work for him! After all he's done to us." Seto hung his head low.

"I don't know what else to do Mokuba… I feel as though this is my only choice now." Mokuba and Seto sat next to each other in silence.

* * *

**A/N:** _Nice and quick updates. That's how I like my stories. So, I'll tell you guys truthfully, I don't know if the next chapter will be as quick as the last two chapters have been, but I'm gonna try my hardest. I mean, I didn't think this one was gonna come out so fast but it just ended up happening that way. I guess I want to give out a little warning to you guys as well, so I don't want to ruin my next chapter with a WARNING right smack dab in the middle of the chapter, but the next chapter will have a sexual scene. It won't be totally explict like "OH YEAH, AND THEN AND WENT INTO AND THEN THEY " just, there will be a rape reference in the next chapter. It won't be anything disgusting, or vile, or totally visual, believe me, I know what is and isn't inappropriate. I'm JUST letting you guys know. I'm sorry if I'm typing way too much, it's just I don't want you guys getting mad at me or anything. But than again, we're all writers here, I'm sure we've all read worse. But anyways, I hope you guys liked the chapter, look forward to being in total suspense on who exactly is going to get raped:p_


	11. Fighting our own Demons

KuRAWR!: HI YER AWESOME.

AmePiper: That's an educated guess! You'll just have to see what happens though to find out who it really is. Yeah, I'm not really sure how I got AmePiper meaning you were British, but hey, it all worked out in the end. Thanks for the review!

Mystical Sand: There is a chance that Seto could do that. I mean, it quite a logical thought. But the thing is, Seto would never risk leaving Mokuba all alone in America, even if he did have Steven as a babysitter. He's just way too overprotective. Plus, with Pegasus knowing where he lives and what not, I'm sure he'd be afraid of Pegasus randomly popping in and doing something to Mokuba. But anyways, onward to the chapter!

Chapter 11

_Fighting our own Demons_

His heart pounded within his chest. Was he actually afraid? Seto wasn't one to be fearful of many things, especially not things such as these. Steven stood a few feet away, his hand still holding the car door open. They both stared silently at the building in front of them.

"Do you want me to wait for you, Mr. Kaiba?" Steven asked. It was strange, but somehow he understood that this was going to be one of the hardest things that Seto had to ever endure. Steven saw this as somewhat silly, feeling as though he was beginning to grow fond of these Kaiba brothers.

"No… I'll be fine." Seto tried to come off as brave, strong. But alas, Steven saw right through that. In reality Steven knew he wished that someone could be by his side, but his pride was too strong to let anyone try and convince him of that. Seto wasn't going to come off as a weak opponent, he needed to show up Pegasus and prove his place in this business.

"Well… I guess I'll be going then…" Steven said, with much dismay. He didn't really want to leave Seto to fend for himself, but he knew he had to. He got into the car and drove away as Seto stood still in the exact same spot. He took a deep breath.

"Well, here goes nothing." When he took his first step into enemy territory, the building seemed much different than the other gaming company buildings that he had visited over the past couple days. There were pictures of all sorts of duel monsters, and they all seemed to be angry holding a somewhat haunting expression. The Industrial Illusions seemed dark and cold, horrifying at most. The elevator Seto walked into didn't look much better.

Seto walked out when he was on the top floor and made sure to keep his head up high and look confident enough to fool everyone. He knew this wouldn't prove to be a hard task, considering he was quite the pretender when it came down to his true emotions. So there he walked, one foot in front of the other, with a face that could scare anyone that stood in his way.

"I'm glad to see you made it on time," Pegasus said with an evil smile, "Come right this way to the interview room."

"Interview room? Pegasus, I thought you knew me better than that." Pegasus let out a laugh.

"Your cute Kaiba-boy, but I can't let every cute boy that comes in here looking for a job off the hook. You have to go through all the processes any normal person would have to go through to be an employee for MY company." Pegasus stopped in front of one room, opening the door politely as if he were some highly regarded gentleman. Seto gave Pegasus one last look before walking in.

"Oh, there you are, you must be… Seto Kaiba?!"

"Devlin?" Duke stood up from where he had been sitting and walked over to him, observing him.

"I didn't know I was gonna be interviewing you! What the hell are you doing all the way out here in America?"

"I moved here quite some time ago."

"You did? My god, I had no idea! How have you been?" Seto rolled his eyes.

"Please Devlin, I'm not here to chit chat, I'm here to get a job." Duke observed him a bit more, scratching his head.

"Wait… don't you own Kaiba Corp. though? What are you doing here trying to get a job from Pegasus?" The room went quiet.

"I'd rather not talk about it…" Duke frowned, something bad must've happened he figured. He felt bad, Duke was aware of the troubles Seto had already endured during his life and he really didn't deserve anymore. "Can we get this over with now?"

"Oh, right. Of course." Duke sat down and flipped out a pen and his clipboard. Seto sat down in one of the chairs seated across from Duke. As Duke prepared the papers, Seto found it humorous he was here. All his life, he had never imagined himself doing a job interview of any sort. He had always figured Kaiba Corp. would always be there for him and he would work there as president till the very day he died. And the fact that he was applying to work for Pegasus, well, this was just too much.

"Okay… so let's do this interview." Duke flipped out a pen and clip board. He read over some of the printed text already on there and filled in a couple things before looking back up at Seto. "Shall we begin?"

"I don't have all the time in the world."

"Alright then… what are your job experiences?"

"Well, I own… well, use to own, a multi-million dollar gaming company."

"Okay… and do you work well with people?"

"In business terms, I would say yes. I'm quite the persuader. But in real life, let's just say society's standards of a social life don't exist for me." Duke raised one eyebrow a bit before writing all this down on his paper.

"Do you work well in groups?"

"No, I like to do things myself. I don't bother with people."

"Do you have any exceptional skills?"

"I'm good at making a lot of money in a short amount of time."

"When did you get your first job?"

"When I was about 14 years old."

"Have you ever committed a felony?" Seto's body froze up again. He felt as though he was back in the counselor's office again. The memories were beginning to take over his mind and soul. He didn't want to, but he couldn't fight it. 'Not now… please, not now…' he thought to himself. He put his hands to his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard Duke get up from his seat and ask what was wrong. Seto couldn't answer and couldn't speak. He was in a faraway place.

* * *

It was raining violently outside, and the Kaiba Mansion was extremely quiet making it seemingly more creepy than usual. Gozaburo sat in his chair, staring out his window in his office. His head rested on his hand, and his cigar lay burning on his desk. The sky was dark and violent with suspense. As if the weather had predicted Gozaburo's next move. It was funny how the weather could play into events such as these. Gozaburo's body became more alert when the sounds of footsteps were heard outside of his office.

The doorknob twisted with the entry of Seto himself. Seto's face was stern and emotionless, only making him resemble Gozaburo's own face. Gozaburo turned his chair around and stood up, a smile appearing on his face.

"Seto… it's good to see you." Seto stayed put. He had a feeling Gozaburo was up to something and he wasn't going to let his guard down anytime soon.

"Oh, is it Gozaburo? That's funny… considering you've lost your company to me in just the last couple hours. I'm sure it feels great knowing someone's better than you." Gozaburo let out a loud laugh that sent even the faintest shivers down Seto's back. But he ignored the warning signs and stood his ground. "You said you had wanted to see me? What about? I don't have time for meaningless meetings with you now that I have a company to run."

"I'm happy to hear you're handling all this newly found power well."

"Knowing that it use to be yours only makes me happier, father." Gozaburo picked up his cigar from his desk and held it in his hand. He walked over to where Seto stood, standing right in front of him.

"That's what makes us the same, Seto. The passion we have for power, and the amounts of risks we'd take to get our dirty hands on it."

"I am NOTHING like you Gozaburo." Gozaburo brought the cigar to his mouth and inhaled it deeply; making sure it was all sucked into his lungs before letting out a big puff as he exhaled into Seto's face. Seto stood completely still.

"I will admit, son, I always knew you were going to be a success. But I didn't think you would catch on to this business so fast."

"Well, I am a child prodigy after all."

"That is true… and maybe that was my mistake. For adopting such a wise young man to be my heir." Gozaburo took the cigar out of his mouth and threw it onto the ground between him and Seto. He gently stomped on the bud until it was burnt out. Then he reached into his pocket slowly and took out a gun. Seto showed no fear as Gozaburo pointed it to his forehead. "It's been fun, I will admit. But I just can't have you running the company I bled for. I hope you have fun in the after life, son." Just as Gozaburo was about to pull the trigger, Seto moved his leg forward and kicked the gun out his hands and into the air. Within seconds, he had the gun in his hand and now pointed at Gozaburo's forehead. Gozaburo took a few steps back.

"Now, now Seto… you could poke someone's eyes out with that."

"Oh, will I now? I'd rather blow you're brains out, dearest father of mine."

"Your real father did fancy guns himself, didn't he?" Seto winced at the thought of his father and what he had done so long ago. What he had made little Seto watch when he was just a boy. When he was innocent.

"I won't stand you any long, Gozaburo. I have had it with you. This is my company now and I'll make sure you won't cause Mokuba and I any more harm." Gozaburo laughed once more.

"What? So now you're saying you're going to kill me? That's a laugh. Admit it Seto, you don't have it in you. I might've turned you into me, but I know there's still a thread of good in you since you still have love for that little brat of yours." Seto grip on the trigger tightened.

"I wouldn't test me Gozaburo, I am the one with the gun." Gozaburo backed up and stood behind his desk now, keeping a safe distance between him and Seto, still Seto was motionless.

"It is true you have the gun, but I have this!" Gozaburo was about to pull out some sort of object but Seto quickly fired the gun on impulse and watched as the bullet went straight through the middle of the old man's head and caused his body to fall backwards and out of the office window. Now the wind and rain from the outside started to seep into the room through the hole in the window and Seto stood in the same place, guilty as charged. His step father's dead body now remained in a river of his own blood for all the world to see and although none of this blood had ever reached Seto's hands, he saw the blood dripping down from his own hands as he stood there in shock of what he had just done.

Seto wasn't sure how long he had been standing in that exact same spot, but he only showed one sign of life when he heard his brother enter the room, staring at him with wide eyes. "Nii-sama… what have you done?"

"Mokuba… I…" Mokuba shivered taking a step back. When he looked at Seto, he didn't see his big brother; he saw a demon that was thirsty for blood. With the gun gripped in Seto's hand, Mokuba didn't know what to do other then fall to his knees in tears. His brother was a murderer.

"You killed him… didn't you? You killed him and you left him to bleed in the street."

"Mokuba, please. It was for us. Now our loves can finally be at peace with that monster dead."

"How can you live with yourself knowing you took someone's life away from them?!" Mokuba screamed.

"I can live just fine knowing I've seen someone take their own life!" Seto yelled in response. Mokuba fell quiet, and just stared.

"I can't believe this…"

"Mokuba, you have to realize it was either him, or me. He was the first to raise the gun."

"But you were the first to shoot it."

* * *

**A/N:**_Hey guys! This was still a somewhat quick update, correct? Well, I try. Okay, so there rape scene wasn't in this one. I ended up running out of room, and I believe that I'll be able to fit it into the next chapter. I'm sorry for making you guys be more anxious for this chapter than need be, but hey, still a good chapter right? I believe that I will be started the next chapter with the rest of the flashback, so that will be what's going on at the beginning of the next chapter if you end up being confused. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	12. The Whole Truth

Just some RANDOM kid you DO…: Hello there dear, won't you come over to my house and have a sip o tea fore you go? It's awful cold outside, would you like my heart to warm you?

Peach Wookiee: Hey, glad you liked the chapter! And thanks for the review too.

AmePiper: Aw, thanks for reviewing even when you're tired. It means a lot. I hope this chapter helps you fall asleep at night and makes you dream of rainbows and ponies.

Afiong Bassey: Hey! Thought I had lost you there since you didn't review to the last chapter, but now that's all history! It's good to hear my stories shock people, cause you never truly know how convincing a story can be when you're writing it. But I'm happy you like it just fine. Thanks for the review!

Mystical Sand: My dear sunshine, it makes me happy that you always fancy my flashbacks. Do you think I portray them well? I hope you do. And I hope you like this chapter too! Thanks for the review!

Chapter 12

_The Whole Truth_

Seto fastened his tight and made sure he looked absolutely perfect in his suit. He looked over at Mokuba whom was already dressed, but sat on the bench looking down at the ground.

"You ready for this Mokuba?" Mokuba looked up with the saddest of eyes. It killed Seto to see him look at him like that. Seto could tell from Mokuba's face that he was completely and utterly disappointed and sad.

"Nii-sama… I can't do it. I can't lie in front of all those people… and especially after taking that oath." Seto got down on his knees and looked him straight in the face.

"Look Mokuba, I know it's going to be hard. But you're the only suspect that will be able to send me to jail. You have to deny me killing Gozaburo." Mokuba looked away.

"I can't lie… I simply can't. I won't be able to look at myself in the mirror knowing I lied about something as big as murder."

"Mokuba, you're going to have to." Mokuba stood to his feet.

"Why should I?" He said with an angry tone now, "You're the one that did all of this, why should I cover up for you? You can't expect me to help you lie your way out of this. Justice has to be served!"

"You listen to me, kid" Seto said in a very low and scary voice as he knelt down and gripped Mokuba's shoulders tightly, forcing him to look at him, "Would you rather me go to jail? Huh? Is that what you want? Justice will be served, but what will happen to you? Look Mokuba, you can either choose to do the right thing or still be able to have me take care of you!" Seto let go of him viciously before standing up once again and fixing his tie once more out of nervousness.

Mokuba started to cry just then after his brother yelled at him. He curled up on the chair and cried into his suit. This only made Seto even more cross. He twisted around.

"What now??" Seto yelled.

"You're scaring me!"

"Grow up, won't you?"

"I'm only 7 years old, what do you expect of me? You killed Gozaburo! You killed him and now you want me to lie for you!" Seto put his hand over Mokuba's mouth.

"Mokuba! Why don't you yell it loud enough so the whole world can hear?"

"GET OFF ME!" Mokuba shoved Seto's hand away. There was a loud banging on the door.

"It's time for the trail." A loud and low voice said from the outside. Seto quickly walked over to the door and opened it revealing the two big guards that stood outside.

"We're ready." One of the guards took Seto by the wrists and twisted them behind his back, holding them tightly. Mokuba stepped out and the other man placed his hands on his shoulders. "Mokuba, we'll be together soon," Seto said in a promising voice wishing his brother wasn't mad at him. Mokuba gave him one last look before both brothers turned their backs and walked in opposite directions.

The courtroom was filled with noise and conversations. Mokuba looked around frantically trying to seek out his brother, but it appeared as though he had arrived there early. The guard and him both took their seats in the witness section of the courtroom. The room fell silent once Seto stepped into the room with a guard by his side. All eyes were on him now. The judge banged his mallet loudly.

"The court has come to order!" Seto walked over to a Bible and placed his hand upon it in front of the whole courtroom.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" Seto's eyes gazed upon Mokuba's. In that moment, it felt as though it was only Mokuba and Seto in the room. His hand was still lying limply on the cold and unforgiving book as he opened his mouth and swore on it. The trail had begun and progressed as scheduled. Not many witnesses came to testify, considering there were very few that were very close to either Seto or Gozaburo. But Seto knew that it would all come down to Mokuba as the jury called upon him.

Mokuba made his way to the front of the courtroom, and he could feel all eyes watching his every last step. Some whispers and gasps were heard as Mokuba walked towards his fate. The man held out the book in front of him. "Do you swear the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?" Mokuba placed his hand on the Bible like expected, but it felt as though it siege his skin when he did. The guilt had already proceeded to take over even before he finally gathered the strength to swear.

"Now Mokuba… you were the only witness that was reported to have been in the room within 24 hours of the murder… now, if the evidence is correct, you would have walked in right after Seto had committed the murder. So Mokuba… before we present such evidence, do tell us… what exactly happened to Gozaburo Kaiba?" The room was completely silent. Mokuba tried looking at something else as he was thinking about what to say. "Remember Mokuba… you are under oath." Mokuba flinched. What was he going to do? He couldn't lie, he just couldn't… but his brother was counting on him, and his future as well. What would life be like if his brother was put away? Mokuba could imagine it all now… and it wasn't a happy thought.

"Gozaburo…" Mokuba could feel everyone's anticipation, "He… he… he killed himself." The whole courtroom gasped. "When I came into the room after Gozaburo's suicide, I walked in only to find my brother looking down at my step father's body in shock. He didn't kill Gozaburo, Gozaburo killed himself."

* * *

"Kaiba!" The conference room began to reappear again in front of his eyes as he sat up. Duke kneeled beside him, worried and confused. "Kaiba, are you alright? You just sort of blanked on me and never really answered the question."

"Sorry… I don't know what came over me. I didn't get much sleep last night, so it's probably related to that," Seto blatantly lied as he got back on his feet and straightened his tie.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that… but anyways, so if you could answer the question?"

"I haven't committed anything close to a felony," Seto said with a calm composure. He just needed to fake it for just a little longer and then he will be okay. Duke marked off another thing on his paper and looked back up.

"Well, I'm afraid this will be the end of our interview. I have a conference meeting right now, but I'll run this by Pegasus and see what he says. We'll call you in a couple days to let you know if you've got the job or not." Seto and Duke got up and Duke held out his hand. Seto looked at him.

"It was good seeing you again, Kaiba. I'm sure you'll get the job." Seto rolled his eyes and turned away as he started walking out.

* * *

"IT'S TIME TO SETTLE DOWN CLASS!" The math teacher yelled at the top of her lungs. Jimmy and Mokuba quickly rushed to their seats right next to each other. "Now take out your homework. If I hear one word, it's detention for the whole week!" The class gave it no second thought as students quickly grabbed their sheets of homework and flipped them onto the table. Mokuba searched through all the pockets in his backpack and began to panic. Jimmy noticed this right away.

"What's wrong?" he whispered. Mokuba leaned closer to him.

"I can't find my homework." Jimmy gave him a cautious look.

"You better what out dude, Ms. Morgan will eat you alive for the most random of things. She's practically the meanest teacher in school. But I heard from the 8th graders that she picks one kid and that's the kid she likes and never rips on. It could be anyone."

"Jimmy Gooding, you shut your mouth before I send you to the principal's office!" Jimmy sat up straight and faced forward, looking as if he were in the army and Ms. Morgan was his general. She gave an evil smile before going back to checking off students' homework.

"Although I'm beginning to think you're gonna be that favorite cause I've noticed since the beginning of school she hasn't yelled at you once yet," Jimmy whispered quietly.

"Gee, I sure hope so…" Mokuba said aloud, mainly to himself. When Ms. Morgan finally made her way to Mokuba and Jimmy's row, Mokuba prepared for the worst when she reached his desk. "Yeah… about my homework Ms. Morgan. I'm sorry, I forgot to write it down yesterday. Is there any way I could turn it in tomorrow?" Ms. Morgan gave him a warm hearted smile.

"Of course dear, just come and see me after class." She then looked over at Jimmy and noticed two problems had been done incorrectly. "What is this?"

"Um… my homework?" Jimmy said in a somewhat sarcastic voice. Ms. Morgan slammed her ruler down onto Jimmy's desk making sure it made a loud cracking noise. "You got both these problems wrong, I'm guessing you weren't paying attention again Mr. Gooding, were you? Maybe I should start calling your parents about this."

"But Ms. Morgan-"

"Don't you dare even think about talking back to me! I will make sure you will have detention if you even think of doing so!" In that moment a ring of hope rang through out the school and the students ran for the exit as quickly as they could.

"See ya!" Jimmy remarked before running off with the rest of the herd of students. Ms. Morgan made her way to the door and closed it once all the students were out and gone.

"Why do you need to see me, Ms. Morgan? Is it about my homework? I'm really sorry about that…"

"Oh, don't worry, it's not that." Ms. Morgan locked the door and closed all the shades. Mokuba looked around in a confused manner. "It's something else, my dear boy. You see… I've taken quite a liking to you." Ms. Morgan walked over to Mokuba and bent down. Mokuba was about to ask what was going on, when Ms. Morgan forced her face forward, and gave Mokuba a long and forceful kiss. One she was done, Mokuba tried to move away, but she simply shoved him onto the floor.

"Oh, you aren't going anywhere…" She moved forward again, forcefully kissing him again, but this time began to undo his garments as well. Mokuba tried to scream, but it was no use. 'Stop it! Stop it!' He kept yelling in his hear, but no one could hear him. No one would ever be able to hear him. He fought and fought, but that only seemed to arouse her more. "I like it when they try to fight it..." she said in a seductive voice, moving faster and faster. Tears were streaming down Mokuba's face as his whole childhood and innocence had suddenly disappeared in a matter of minutes. As her sexual act proceeded, Mokuba could only close his eyes and pray.

* * *

**A/N:**_Okay, so there. I did it. Short scene, but hey, you guys get the idea. I hope you guys liked the chapter. I've been only thinking up more and more ideas and I think you guys are really going to like them. I hope you liked this chapter, I really do. My week has just started, but it's already turning out to be really bad, so show me some love and bare with some of my late updates. I love you guys, you guys seriously brighten my day all the time so I really do mean it when I say thanks for the review. Well, I better go. I'm gonna cook me up some ramen! Get ready for the next chapter_


	13. Staring into Space

What's InAName!!!: Oh my goodness, YES I DID MISS YOU!!! Where have ya been man? I was wondering whether you would ever return to being one of my faithful readers or not. How's it going? Thanks for the review; it really did bring a smile to my face. Enjoy the chapter!

Peach Wookee: She definitely does need to pay. Welcome to the review wagon, I'm Kari and this is my story. Thanks for the review!

Afiong Bassey: Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I totally thought the last chapter would confuse everyone since there were 3 different settings and scenes and what not, but I was hoping it wouldn't confuse everyone too bad. I promise to try and make the next few chapters more comprehendible, dear. Do enjoy this chapter though.

D: I warned you about wanting to be Morgan!!! But anyways, yeah, I can't wait for your ultra super awesome video. Post it up soon so I'll have something to brighten up my life like kitty cat muffins brighten yours…? Uh… what? Sorry, I'm not sure. BE MINE FOREVER?

AmePiper: Hahahaha, I loved your reaction! That was probably the best reaction I've ever got to one of my chapters ever! Yeah, you're review definitely do make my day better, and I was much more happy when I saw the e-mail with your review in it(I hope you people are aware that my inbox is almost always empty unless I've posted up a new chapter, hehe.) I agree, a certain woman needs to get punched, but in the mean time, read this chapter!

Mystical Sand: Yeah, having Seto kill Gozaburo is definitely the most interesting of ideas to how Gozaburo died, I think. I mean, I know I also wrote Seto killing Gozaburo in one of my other stories too… I just forget which one it was exactly. I'm happy you like how I portray them, although I'm happy when I get a good review period, but you know what I mean. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 13

_Staring into Space_

His body felt heavy, yet, empty in a way as Mokuba lay there on the cold, hard classroom floor. His body was still shaking from the act that he had just been forcefully involved with, but Ms. Morgan only looked at him with a devilish smile as she button her shirt back up. She grabbed both his wrists and forced him back onto his feet, straightening out his shirt a bit before moving her hand down to his and leaning forward.

"Now Mokuba… I should hear nothing about what has happened today. If you say anything, anything at all, I will find out and will be forced to do something quite drastic." Mokuba stood there, staring at her blankly. His gaze made it seem as though he was lost, but at the same time he was still aware she was in his presence, clutching his hands with her. Her touch sent shivers down his back. "Here's a little something you can use. Buy yourself something special…" she said in a seductive voice as she slipped a five dollar bill into his hand.

"See you tomorrow." And with that, it was like nothing had ever happened. He was in the hallway again; it was filled with students rushing to their classes as it was always like every day. Everyone seemed to be going about his or her business; everyone seemed to be having a fine day. Except for him and his deadly secret. He stood there, still with a blank stare. He felt so isolated, so alone. Mokuba looked down at the crumbled five-dollar bill that was crunched up in his hand. He stared at it for a long while.

What was he suppose to do with it? Mokuba felt as though he was suppose to be happy about getting five dollars absolutely free and was able to use it to buy whatever he wanted, but no matter how much he tried to make himself believe, he couldn't feel happy about it. Mokuba was aware that it was some sort of bribery, some sort of sick way of making him feel okay with what had just happened between him and Ms. Morgan. But he couldn't feel that way, he simply couldn't.

Mokuba walked through the hallways, drifting left and right till he finally made it to the cafeteria. His drifting soon led him to his lunch table where he sat down silently. Jimmy looked over at Mokuba. "There you are, what took you so long? You've been gone for half the period. Are you in trouble?" Images of what had happened flashed through his mind.

"Oh, no… Ms. Morgan just had me make up some homework assignments I hadn't done, that's all."

"Geez, you're so lucky that you're her favorite this year! She wouldn't have let ME do that if I hadn't done some homework assignments." Mokuba wished Jimmy how wrong he was for wishing to be in Mokuba's position. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about it. His lunch bag lay in front of him, closed and untouched.

"Are you gonna eat your lunch?" Christopher asked, eyeing Mokuba's lunch bag. Mokuba pushed it forward over to Christopher. "Sweet!" He opened the bag without another thought and began to eat his food. Elizabeth stared at Mokuba.

"Mokuba, are you sure you're okay? You haven't really said anything."

"I'm fine… just fine. I'm just… just worried Ms. Morgan will tell my brother I had missed a couple of those assignments, that's all." Mokuba felt bad lying to all his friends, but at the same time he remembered what Ms. Morgan had told him earlier that day. 'If you say anything, anything at all, I will find out and will be forced to do something quite drastic.' What would Ms. Morgan do? Could she really harm him if he was to tell anyone and find out? Mokuba wasn't sure at this point.

"…So then my teacher told me to leave the room and I had to sit out there for practically the rest of class!" Marie complained as she talked about her last class, "It was really annoying, sometimes I think teachers are just out to get you and ruin your lives. They could care less about our feelings."

"Yeah, sometimes I feel that way too… but some teachers do really care!" Elizabeth defended. Jimmy crumbled his empty chip bag and tossed it into the garbage can before turning back to Mokuba.

"So you still up for roller skating lessons after school today?" Mokuba had completely forgotten about that. Yesterday he would've loved to learn how to skate with his newly found friend, but after what had happened, he just couldn't find the joy he had the day before. Mokuba had to think of an excuse.

"Nah, I can't. My brother wants me to come home after school to help him with this project he's working on."

"Oh, okay. Well maybe another time?" The bell rang and students began to herd out of the cafeteria to their next classes.

"Yeah, another time would be best."

"Okay, well see you later then Mokuba." Mokuba waved goodbye before moving on to his next class. He wished he could cleanse his mind of the events and images, but that was something that could not be done. For the rest of the day he went back and forth from feeling guilty to feeling ashamed about what had happened. Between lying to his friends and the interaction between Ms. Morgan, he was left only to feel depressed for the rest of the day.

'How could this have happened to me?' Mokuba thought to himself, unable to pay attention to his teacher, 'Why did this have to happen? Don't I have enough problems already?' Mokuba couldn't figure out why all of this had happened to him of all people. His life had been hard enough and now he was left with this secret to enclose within himself for the rest of his life unless he wanted to suffer the consequences.

The bell rang once more, but this time it signaled the ending of the school day. Mokuba slowly walked out of the school building with a heavy heart. He wondered if he should tell Seto about what had happened or if that was all part of the 'something drastic' consequences. Mokuba sat on one of the steps in front of the school and waited patiently. After all the school kids had been picked up or left on the bus, Steven pulled up in front of the school.

"Hey Mokuba," Steven said after Mokuba got in, "You looked a little sad before you noticed me out here. Something bothering you?"

"No… I'm fine."

"Okay… you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Steven asked, "I mean, I know I'm not you're brother or anything… but I'd really like to be a help to you and your brother. I can't imagine how hard all these changes must be, what with your new school and your brother's applying for a new job…" Mokuba remained silent, barely paying any attention to what Steven had to say. It felt as though it was hard for him to pay attention, cause his mind was always drifting from thought to thought without any real direction.

"Well, anyway… I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. But before we get to the house, I gotta warn you. Your brother isn't doing so well at the moment, it's like he's in some sort of trance. Ever since the interview, he hasn't really been saying much and just sort of stares off into space. So just give him some peace, okay?" Steven turned around to Mokuba and found Mokuba sitting in his seat, his emotionless expression looked like the expression Seto had when Steven first picked him up after the interview.

After both of them got to the house, Mokuba silently went up to his room without a word to his brother or Steven. Steven watched him slowly make his way up the stairs and disappear into his room before walking into the living room where Seto sat on one of the couches staring at the wall. "Sir… I think something's wrong with Mokuba…" Seto looked at him.

"Steven… have you ever killed anyone?" Steven looked at Seto suspiciously.

"No… why do you ask?"

"Have you ever lied about killing someone?"

"No sir, I haven't. I'm not quite sure why you're asking-"

"LEAVE ME BE!" Seto yelled, pointing towards the exit. Steven rushed out of the room obediently. Once Steven was gone, Seto began talking to himself. "I didn't do anything wrong… Gozaburo made our lives hell… it was for the good of both me and Mokuba…" Seto tried to reason with himself, "The man would've killed me if I hadn't killed him… it was really an act of self defense…"

"Is ever murder an act of defense to you, Seto Kaiba?" Seto twisted around to see, what appeared to be, Gozaburo himself. Seto's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet.

"Wh-What are you doing here?!"

"I just thought I'd pay you a visit, son…"

"You're not here! You can't be here… you're dead!" Seto screamed.

"Or so it would have appeared…" Seto put his hands to his head, gripping his hair with his hands and violently pulling on it.

"No… this isn't happening… it can't be… YOU'RE DEAD DAMMIT!" Seto yelled at the top of his lungs. Seto ran forward and tried to punch Gozaburo, but nothing seemed to affect him. He kept punching and punching, but it was as if he weren't even there. Gozaburo laughed at Seto's attempts to hurt him.

"I always knew it would end this way… you'll never be able to win, Seto. You'll always be one step behind me." Seto launched his body at Gozaburo's but ended up running right through him and into the wall. The immediate collision between his head and the wall forced Seto into unconsciousness almost immediately.

"I heard a bang, is everything okay… NII-SAMA!!!"

* * *

**A/N:** _So it's a short chapter… I do apologize. This definitely was one of those chapters where I was just sort of sitting there wishing it would end sooner. Cause I had no real events planned out for his chapter. But anyways, hopefully the next chapter will be better. So I'm sure you guy already figured that Gozaburo randomly appearing… yeah, that was all in Seto's mind. You'd think he was a ghost, but it was just Seto's mind playing tricks on him. So yeah, that's what happened. I can't wait to start on the next chapter, it'll be way better than this one. KTHANKXBYE!_


	14. Story of our Lives

Peach Wookiee: I'm happy my story is seemingly realistic to my wonderful readers! Thanks for the review!

AmePiper: I'm not sure why I'm doing this, I guess I like to make Seto and Mokuba suffer. Which sounds terrible, but at the same time sounds logical considering all my stories are really sad and I always put poor Seto and Mokuba through some hard shit. But anyways, I must be off for you need to read this chapter! Toodles.

O NO YOU JUST DIDN'T SHA-NA…: PLEASE DO ANOTHER SEXY STORY VIDEO!!! I loved your video so much, it was so amazing. It actually made my story sound really good. No joke, you're amazing. Please?! I'm putting in all these special Steven scenes just for you! DO IT AGAIN!

What'sInAName!!!: Really? I didn't know that! Well, I'm happy you've been keeping up with my story. It definitely makes me feel like this is an awesome story. You guys are the only people that make me realize how good this story is considering I really don't think it's all that great. But anyways, thanks for the review!

Afiong Bassey: You really liked that last chapter? Sweet! I really didn't think it was that great, but I'm so happy you love it! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the last one.

Chapter 14

_Story of our Lives_

"NII-SAMA!… Nii-sama, please! Wake up!"

"I've called 911, an ambulance should be on its way."

"Is he going to be okay, Steven?"

"I don't know… I'm not even sure what happened to him."

"Oh God… Nii-sama…" So many voices wondering through his mind, where was he? Seto was confused, everything was black and yet he heard Mokuba and Steven in the room. It was like he was conscious, but at the same time he wasn't. Although he began to feel as though he was coming along when he started to feel an immense pain in his head and his vision began to clear up.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba shouted with glee before tackling his brother with a hug. Seto looked around to find that Gozaburo was gone and that Steven and Mokuba appeared to be the only people present in the room. "I was so worried," Mokuba said after he finally let Seto go. "What happened to you?" Seto sighed.

"If I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me."

"I've seen a lot of crazy things Seto, I think you can tell me." Mokuba smiled and Seto returned the smile. He looked up at Steven as he sat up.

"And what are you looking at?"

"Oh, nothing sir!" Mokuba gave Seto a playful punch.

"Oh, be nice Nii-sama. Steven was trying to do everything in his power to help you when you were unconscious."

"Well, it's not like I asked for his help to begin with…"

"Nii-sama!"

"I'm just kidding." Seto and Mokuba returned to their feet and it felt as though everything was back to normal again. Seto looked outside and noticed that it was dark. "How long was I out exactly?"

"Well, I'm not sure…" Steven said, "A couple hours or so." Seto put his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his head. The headache was becoming worse and worse.

"Steven, could you fetch me some aspirin and some water?"

"Right away sir." Seto sat down on the couch and Mokuba did the same. Seto and Mokuba sat next to each other in silence. Mokuba was contemplating whether to tell his brother about what had happened between him and Ms. Morgan. He desperately wanted to tell him, to feel like he wasn't alone in this world with a huge secret. But at the same time… how would his brother react? What if he reacted in disgust rather than worry? What if he completely took it the wrong way? But on the other hand, if he knew, he would protect Mokuba at all costs to make sure he was safe. At least, that was what he always tried to do.

"Nii-sama…"

"Yes Mokuba?"

"I… I need to tell you something." All of Seto's attention was on Mokuba now. This was it. He was going to do it. Mokuba started to twiddle his thumbs in nervousness.

"Well… something sort of happened at school today…"

"Like what?"

"Well, you see-" Seto's cell phone started to go off.

"Hold that thought," Seto flipped out his phone and put it up to his ear, "Hello?"

"Why hello there, Kaiba-boy, having a pleasant evening?"

"Pegasus! How did you get my cell phone number? Can't you leave me alone already, I did you're stupid interview!" Pegasus giggled.

"I know you did Kaiba-boy, that's what I'm calling you about." Seto stopped pacing back and forth in the living room.

"What? Did I get the job?"

"I'm happy to say you did…" Although it felt very strange and foreign to him, Seto could feel a sense of excitement emerging from his stomach and proceeding up. His head began bouncing with happiness. He had never felt this way before; it was a sense of accomplishment Seto had never really gotten a chance to feel before in his life.

"Well, I guess that's good," Seto replied plainly, trying to push back down his excitement and return his face back to normal, "So what position am I working?"

"You're an administrative assistant." Seto's jaw dropped.

"WHAT?!" Seto's yelling made Mokuba jumped. "You can't be seriously Pegasus, you know administrative assistant is completely below me. That's mutt work! I'm Seto Kaiba, how can you possibly expect me to administratively assist people?!"

"You'll just have to figure it out for yourself, Kaiba-boy. I expect you in your new office tomorrow morning at nine. Your training will begin that day." Pegasus hung up the phone, leaving Seto speechless.

"I can't believe this!" Seto threw his phone across the room, "How dare he do this to me! How dare he!"

"Nii-sama, what happened?!" Mokuba asked frantically when he noticed his brother was beginning to act quite insanely when his brother started to punch and kick everything in the room.

"He gave me the lowest job there is. How could he do this to me?! I'll kill him… I'll kill him!" Seto grabbed a lamp off the coffee table and threw it against the wall. Like a firework being set off, it exploded into lots of pieces and flew all across the room. Steven ran into the room.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Steven yelled.

"STAY OUT OF THIS GOZABURO!" Seto yelled in a bloodthirsty voice.

"Gozaburo?" Mokuba sprinted across the room over to Steven, clutching his leg and hiding behind him. "Mr. Kaiba, it's me! Steven!" Steven put his hand on Mokuba's shoulder and held him tightly against him. His heart was pounding very, very fast as Seto took a step forward with both his eyes fixed on him. "Mr. Kaiba! Please remember who I am!"

"I remember EXACTLY who you are, Gozaburo! I thought killing you once would finally rid you of my life, but I guess I'll just have to kill you again! Now step away from my brother!" Steven looked down at Mokuba.

"What is he talking about!?"

"I think he thinks you're our step father Gozaburo!" Seto took another step forward.

"There's nowhere to run now Gozaburo…" Steven gulped.

"I think you're right." Seto gave a loud battle cry before jumping forward with his arms extended, hands reaching for Steven's neck. Steven jumped backwards and wrapped his arms around Mokuba, lifting him off the ground. "We need to get out of here." Steven started out of the living room and up the stairs. Like a hawk swooping in for his prey Seto following closely behind them. His eager footsteps sounded similar to thunder roaring in the distance. Steven took a turn into Seto's office.

"I'M COMING FOR YOU GOZAB-" Steven smacked Seto right in the face with a bat once Seto stepped into the office. Seto fell the ground, unconscious once again. Steven dropped the bat quickly afterwards.

"Oh my god… oh my god… I just knocked out Mr. Kaiba… he's going to fire me for sure… oh god!" Steven buried his face in his hands; his body was shaking violently from fear. He slowly sat down and leaned against the wall hoping to calm his body. Mokuba walked over to Steven and placed his hand on Steven's head.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay… you did the right thing…" Mokuba said in a comforting voice, a little shaken up himself from the whole thing. "I would've done the same thing… sort of." Steven removed his hands from his face and placed them on the ground, looking up at Mokuba.

"I'm sorry you had to see that happen, I was afraid he was going to… well, do something he might regret."

"That wouldn't have been the first time he's done something he would have regretted," Mokuba said sorrowfully, sitting down beside Steven against the wall, "My brother does a lot of things on impulse and doesn't really think about his decision much."

"Oh… I see," Steven looked over at Mokuba, "Mokuba… I really want to know you and Mr. Kaiba's story. I mean, you guys are the most interesting people I've ever worked for. I have a feeling there's some sort of life challenging story behind you two."

"Well, you could say that," Mokuba took a deep breath, "I guess I could tell you if you really wanted, but if I tell my story, you have to me your story, okay?" Steven nodded.

"That sounds reasonable."

"Well… I'm not exactly sure where to begin. I guess I should start from the very beginning. I never knew my mother… she died giving birth to me. And… well, my mother's death hit my brother and my dad really hard. Her death sort of drove my dad to committing suicide, and he kind of made my brother watch him kill himself." Steven's eyes widened. "Seto became my parent in a way, since I didn't really know my parents. Seto was the only one that knew them. Right after they died, no one wanted to take us in, so we were dumped at an orphanage. Life at the orphanage was hard, but an okay place to live. But Seto wanted freedom more than anything else. That's when our stepfather came into the picture. To make a long story short, he ended up adopting us and only making our lives worse. He abused Seto mercilessly and made him into what he is today; emotionless and power hungry. But I'm the only one that sees his old side, the person he use to be before Gozaburo tried to destroy him."

"Wow… that's… that's tough kid… that really is… I feel for you." Mokuba shrugged.

"It happens. I mean, I've dealt with it for so long, it doesn't really bother me anymore…" Mokuba turned his head, "But what about you? What's you're story?" Steven sighed and looked down.

"Well… if I were to start from the beginning, I would probably say I was the youngest of five children, all of which were boys," Steven began, "My family was extremely poor, and my mother was very sick all through-out my life. But even though she was sick, she tried everything she could to push us through school with what little money she had. She always told us education was the most important thing. But… my grades were never the grades she wanted. She always told me to be more like my brothers and asked me why I couldn't push myself to being more like my brothers. I didn't know why, I just didn't seem to get things as easily as my older brothers. My father was worse though, he was never home. But when he was home, he was abuse us to no end. My poor mother… she never gave up hope on him even though my brothers and I knew he was a worthless bastard and that he didn't love her. Well, to make my own story short, I got the hell out of that house the moment I turned 18. I worked around doing meaningless jobs until I worked up enough money to go to college and get my degree. When I graduated, I moved to L.A. to find me some business, and sure enough your brother called."

"Well… it sounds like you didn't have it easy either… whatever happened to your family?"

"Well, sure enough, somehow my mother was able to push us all through high school and college and get ourselves degrees. My brothers have all moved away to various places and are doing various jobs, but I don't really talk to them anymore. There are just some things my family hasn't come to terms with and the abuse has remained silent." Mokuba frowned, feeling sorry for Steven. Steven noticed his sad face and put is arm around Mokuba's neck. "Look kid, it's not as bad as you think. I'm happy now, and I don't really care that I don't talk to my family."

"But… your suppose to care about your family, your family is always suppose to be their for you. There's no way you're whole family can just get back together again and talk this whole thing through?"

"I'm afraid not, Mokuba… I mean, I'm not even sure where all my brothers live or if my father ever returned from his "business trip" he went on several years ago."

"What about your mother?"

"I'm still not sure if she's still alive or not…"

"How can you live that way?" Mokuba got to his feet and faced him, "How can you live not knowing whether your mom is alive or not?"

"I live just the way I did not knowing whether my father was ever going to come back home or not."

"But don't you care about your mother?"

"There are some things I still can't get over that my mother never patched up in my life… scars that still haven't healed…"

"Look at me! Gozaburo never exactly 'patched up' everything he put my brother and I through, and he's dead now." Steven now got to his feet.

"I never expected you to understand the way I feel." Steven turned his back and began to walk away when Mokuba spoke once more.

"I never thought you'd be the kind of person to turn his back on his family." Steven left the room, leaving Seto's office filled with all kinds of emotions.

* * *

**A/N:** _I hope you guys are finally happy that you got some Steven back round. I know how much you all love Steven and I'm hoping you guys liked what you read. I hope I wrote it okay. Also, I was wondering if in your next reviews, let me know if you want me to write some more about Steven in the next chapter. Some more in depth stuff possibly. I just want to know cause the reason Steven has been sort of in and out is because most people don't like made up characters, cause quite frankly, they're annoying. But since you all love Steven so much, I'd like to know. This chapter, I will admit, came a bit randomly. I will admit Seto went a bit out of character in this one, but he's just been under a lot of stress lately and with the whole Gozaburo and finding out he's got the worst job ever… yeah, he went a bit crazy. I didn't expect this chapter to go that way, but hopefully it's a lot more interesting and suspenseful than what I had in mind. But anyways, I really hope you guys liked this chapter! _


	15. Keep at a Distance

Peach Wookee: Yay! I'm glad you think so! Thanks for the review.

AmePiper: Awww, I'm sorry the beginning scared you! I hope this chapter is less scary. Sorry for short response, I figure you just wanna go straight to the reading.

STEVENS LOVER: -crossing fingers- I hope this chapter is made into a sexy story… I hope this chapter is made into a sexy story… HI I LOVE YOU A LOT AND YOU WILL BE STEVEN'S ONE AND ONLY LOVER! Kbye.

Afiong Bassey: Thanks for review!

Mystical Sand: Oh no! You might be discovering the underlying theme already! DON'T TELL ANYONE! Hahaha, well, I guess I couldn't keep it a secret from a writer like you, you can see this stuff from a mile away. But anyways, hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 15

_Keep at a Distance  
_

When Seto awoke the second time, he was lying on the floor of his office and it was 11 o'clock at night. Seto rose to his feet and groaned as he rubbed his head. What happened? Seto couldn't even remember what had happened only a couple hours earlier. He made his way out of his office and down the hall to Mokuba's room. He peeked inside and saw Mokuba curled up on his bed, still wearing his clothes from the day and having a pillow wrapped in his arms. Seto knew Mokuba hadn't been put to bed properly, which made him angry.

Seto's next destination was Steven's room. He didn't bother knocking; he simply opened the door and walked in. Steven looked up from the photo album he was looking at. Seto's angry only escalated when he discovered that the photo album was his. "What are you doing?" Steven froze and shut the album, putting his hands over it attempting to try and hide it in some way.

"Nothing." Seto moved forward and took the book from him. It was indeed Seto's photo album. Seto looked back up and glared at Steven.

"Since when did you think you had some right to look at my things?"

"I had no right, Sir, no right. I'm terribly sorry I did anything of the sort… I was curious and… well, nothing can justify what I did." Steven looked down ashamed. Seto glared.

"You need to stay away from Mokuba, got that?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you. Don't try to get involved in his life or our affairs. You are a butler, and nothing more than that. This family doesn't need anymore tragedies, he's my brother and I'm the only one who can take care of him." Steven wanted to protest, but his gut told him not to. There was no use in trying to save him, but Steven would try everything in his power to help Seto out.

"Yes Sir," Steven replied.

"Good." Seto was about to walk out of the room when he stopped and turned back around, "Do you know why I was lying on the floor when I woke up?" Steven stiffened.

"Uh… no Sir, not sure how you got there." Seto shrugged and then continued out of the room. Steven was wondering whether his lie would get him into trouble or not, but decided it would be best to leave the situation alone and go to bed.

* * *

When Mokuba awoke that morning, he felt a bit sleepy as well as content. But the minute he woke up, he realized he wasn't home, in Japan, like he had thought. He was in America, in a new house, with a new school. Then he remembered the day before, the scares his teacher had left, his brother's fury and sorrow after losing his company and being forced to work for Pegasus as a result. He also remembered his brother's rage that nearly killed Steven that night and reminded him of Gozaburo's murder. 

Mokuba got up and began to get dressed when Steven popped into the room. "Mokuba, it's time to wake-oh! Sorry!" Steven slammed the door closed instantly. Mokuba opened the door only a couple seconds later. "Terribly sorry, I wasn't aware you were awake."

"It's okay Steven, I know you didn't mean to." Steven smiled, but then noticed how close him and Mokuba were standing next to each other. He quickly moved a considerable distance away from him. Mokuba stared at him. "What?"

"Uh… nothing! Nothing at all, breakfast awaits you."

"No… something is up." Mokuba took a step forward, which forced Steven to take another step away from him, "What is it? Do I smell bad?"

"No! Of course not! It's just…" Steven sighed, "I was kind of told to stay away from you."

"Stay away from me? By who?"

"By-"

"Steven, what are you doing?" Steven froze up and twisted around only to find Seto hovering over him.

"Oh… nothing sir!"

"I told you to wake him up, it shouldn't take you this long." Mokuba eyed his brother.

"Nii-sama, what's going on? Did you tell Steven to stay away from me?" Seto shoved Steven to the side and walked over to Mokuba, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"It's nothing to worry about, just come downstairs and eat your breakfast, you're going to be late." Seto gently pushed Mokuba along as they both went down the stairs together and walked into the dining room. Steven followed from a distance behind them.

"Looks like you're gonna have to grab your breakfast and go, you're going to be late," Seto said looking at his watch, he handed Mokuba his lunch while he was halfway out the door. "Bye Mokuba, have a great day," he kissed his brother on the head as he made his way out the door.

"Bye Nii-sama! Bye Steven!" The door slammed shut and the house fell deathly quiet. Seto spun around and glared at Steven. Steven opened his mouth to stay something, but Seto immediately cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it, just stay away from him. He doesn't need another person hurting him."

"I have no intent on hurting him."

"Every person we've ever gotten close to has somehow hurt us in the long run, as long as you stay away from Mokuba you can't develop a bond and therefore you can't hurt him. Now hurry up and come to the car. You have to drive me to work." Seto walked out of the door and Steven, once more, followed behind without a word. Steven's general feeling was to object, but he didn't want Seto to hate him more.

When they reached Industrial Illusions, there was an eerie feeling in the air. "Do you want me to drop you off here, Sir?" Steven asked. Seto was silent as he stared at the building. He sighed and opened the door.

"Come pick me up around three, I want to go with you to pick up Mokuba." Steven nodded and drove off after Seto got out of the car. Now it was just him and his fear that stood between his body and his new job. All he had to do was take that final step, and he would be able to walk into that building successfully. Seto swallowed hard and took that step. Next thing he knew, he was in the building on the top floor, standing in front of his enemy and boss, Pegasus.

"Good to see you Kaiba," Pegasus held out his hand, "Welcome to the company." With much reluctance, Seto took Pegasus's hand and shook it. A grin grew onto Pegasus's face. "I'm sure you'll have a GREAT time working here…" Pegasus led him through the top floor, showing him around and all the rooms, introducing him to a couple of the employees. "And you've already met Duke Devlin, my personal assistant." Duke quickly got up from his chair when he saw Pegasus and Seto.

"Hey Kaiba."

"Duke, could you be a help and begin with Seto's training?"

"Right away Sir" Duke said obediently before nodding and leading Seto to his office. Seto made a sound of disgust.

"I can't believe you, what lows people go to. I swear he's got you wrapped around his finger."

"Speak for yourself, it's not like you have much of a choice either," Seto fell silent, "Besides, Pegasus has been good to me. I don't see why you have such a grudge against him."

"That bastard tried to take over my company and kidnapped my brother!" The whole office floor stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Duke shook his head.

"Could you scream it any louder?"

"Shut up."

"Look Kaiba, I'm trying to help you out here, but if you don't want help I don't have to give it." Seto turned his head away and crossed his arms.

"I never asked for your help." Duke rolled his eyes.

"It's gonna be a long day…"

* * *

When the bell rang that day signaling math, Mokuba was fearful. He had been having anxiety all day about going to that class again, wondering if it would be a repeat of yesterday. Mokuba had thought about skipping the class completely, but he knew he couldn't do that. His brother would surely find out and Mokuba would have to give him some sort of explanation for his actions. But after much fight, he decided it was no use but to go to the class. 

"Alright class, now take out your homework." Mokuba sat there, observing the classroom in front of him. It seemed like a normal day in class. Ms. Morgan yelled at another student for talking instead of taking out his homework as always. Jimmy turned to Mokuba.

"Hey Mokuba, I'm gonna go to the skate park this weekend, do you want to go with me and I'll teach you how to skate?" Jimmy asked. Before Mokuba could reply, Ms. Morgan yelled at him and told him to be quiet. Jimmy glared at her. "She has to be the biggest bitch alive…" Jimmy grumbled to himself. Mokuba sunk in his chair when Ms. Morgan approached his desk. She hovered over him, looking down at his notebook where his homework was written. She made a little check on his paper.

"Good work Mokuba," before she left to go check the rest of the kids' homework, she gently stroked the back of Mokuba's head. Her touch sent a shiver down Mokuba's spine. In that instant he knew that it was going to happen again. She was going to force him to do everything again.

Mokuba wanted to cry. He wanted to cry so terribly with fear. But he couldn't, he had to keep pretending. Mokuba couldn't pay attention at all during class, all he could think about was how to escape the room before she could trap him. He made up plans the whole period, watching the clock as he did so. Mokuba tried to ignore Ms. Morgan's small signs of affection when she gave them to him during class. This only made him want to run more.

Finally, after what seemed like days, the bell rang. Mokuba sprinted onto his feet and started for the door when Ms. Morgan called out to him. "Mokuba, I need to see you real quick." Mokuba's heart stopped in that instant and his body suddenly froze up. He wanted to run, but he felt as though he couldn't. The room was now empty, and Mokuba and Ms. Morgan were the only ones in the classroom now. Ms. Morgan gave Mokuba a seductive smile as she locked the door and began closing all the shades.

"No… please… not again…" Mokuba begged, taking a few steps back as she approached him. Mokuba shook his head, "Don't do this… please… it's not right…" Ms. Morgan grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him right up next to her.

"Don't tell me what's right and wrong… I call the shots in my classroom." Ms. Morgan shoved him up against the wall, slowly undoing his pants. Fear was soon replaced by rage as Mokuba tried to kick her in the stomach. This only seemed to excite her more. She planted her face onto his and the nightmare began once more. Tears began to fall and his body was overcome by sin once more.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! I am SOOOO sorry it took me so long to update! You guys must be so mad at me! I swear I tried to write, but a lot has been going on and I've been barely able to keep up with my diary much less my stories. But I'm hoping this is the end of the uber stressful part of life and hoping to get in a couple more chapter before my trip. I'm gonna be gone for a week and won't have any time whatsoever to write, so I'm gonna try to write as much as I can before I go! I hope you guys forgive me, and look forward to the next awesome chapter._


	16. Hoping for one's Happiness

AmePiper: Awww, thank you Ame. You give me a lot of hope, I'm sure you'll enjoy this chapter. Or at least I hope you do, you've been so kind to me these days so I'm hoping my writing brings you as much joy as your reviews bring me. Enjoy.

Afiong Bassey: I know, I feel kinda bad too. But I guess you'll just have to read on to find out what happens. Thanks for the review!

Mystical Sand: Thanks for the review, I really hope you like the chapter. Sorry I've been so late on y updates lately.

Chapter 16

_Hoping for one's Happiness_

Seto sat patiently in the waiting room. He watched his father pace back and forth in front of him. He kept his head down and his eyes straight, his face looked so serious and concerned. To Seto, he didn't see what all the fuss and worry was about. But back then he didn't know his mother's condition and the state she was in. No one had told him his mother wasn't going to make it through this birth if she could even handle one; it was either going to be her that was going to die by the end of this or the baby. Time was not one to tell at this point in time. That was when the doctor opened the door.

"You better come quickly, we're losing her." Seto looked up as his father sprinted into action and scooped him into his arms as he made his way to his mother's hospital room. He looked around frantically, and then rested his eyes on his wife. The doctor looked down in sympathy.

"She's not going to make it." Seto was placed beside his mother's bedside as his father hovered over him. Seto's mother looked up, her face was completely drained. She looked paler than Seto had ever since her, as if all the life had just been sucked out of her just like that in the last hour. Even at that moment, Seto couldn't figure out what was going to happen. All he knew was that something was terribly wrong.

"S-Seto…" his mother whispered, moving her hand slowly over to Seto's. Her voice pierced Seto's heart. He gently grabbed her hand and held it.

"Yes Mommy?"

"I… I want you to meet… your new brother…" She moved her head and looked down kindly onto the small baby in her arms. He was wrapped up tightly in a blanket and slept quickly against her. "His name is… Mokuba." Her last bit of life was already beginning to drain away. Seto held onto her hand tighter.

"Mommy… please… don't leave."

"It's not… in my power… but I know… you'll be able to survive… on your own…" Seto looked deeply into his mother's eyes, digging deep into her soul to try and see what she truly wanted. As he looked on, he felt as though his mother knew. That his mother knew she was going to die… that she had to die. That his father wouldn't be able to survive without her when she did die. That him and Mokuba were going to fight for their survival for the rest of their lives, all on their own. Tears started to trickle down the boys face.

"Mommy… don't go like this… we need you."

"You can survive, my dear child… I know you can…" his mother coughed violently, her whole body shook when she did. The site pained Seto even more. "I just want… one last thing… before I go." Seto stood beside her, his full attention on her and only her.

"What is it?"

"Promise… to take care of your brother… Mokuba. Promise you'll always… look out for him." More and more tears fell as Seto felt his mother's last bit of life slip away from him.

"I promise Mommy, I promise I'll protect Mokuba at all costs. I hope that… that you'll finally be happy." His mother gave him one last smile before slowly closing her eyes and completely leaving the mortal world. The small baby boy that was Seto's new brother began to cry right after his mother had passed, knowing his mother was no longer there to hold him. The doctor picked up the child and held him, trying to calm him down. Seto's father started to cry violently, pushing Seto to the side and weeping into his wife's chest in agony.

Seto walked over to the doctor and held out his arms. Without a word, the doctor placed Mokuba in Seto's arms and walked away. Seto looked down at the tiny baby, rocking him back and forth trying to calm his screams. "It's going to be okay Mokuba… you're going to be just fine…" Seto spoke softly to him, and sure enough, his screams started to fade away. Seto kissed him on the head and whispered, "I will always protect you."

* * *

"Kaiba!" Seto's head jerked back up, "Kaiba, this is not a time to be daydreaming. I told you to pay attention, this is very important stuff." Duke advised, frowning. "If Pegasus saw you like this, he'd have you fired in an instance."

"Then let him."

"Kaiba, I thought you needed this job." Seto looked over at the clock. It was almost three. This made Seto jump to his feet.

"Look, I have to go…"

"Go? But you can't leave yet, there's still so much more training you need." Seto gathered his things and threw his trench coat back on over his shoulders.

"Well, I need to pick up my brother. I'd like to stay and finish, but it'll just have to wait till tomorrow." Seto always starting making his way to the exit and down the elevator. He had a made a promise that day to always protect Mokuba, and nothing would ever stand in that way. Not even a stupid job. He always needed to be there for his brother, most people just wouldn't be able to understand that.

* * *

It was that time again. Children were rushing through the hallways in every direction. The hallways were especially busy considering it was a Friday. Mokuba felt lost in these school walls. He simply let his body flow in whatever direction the crowd took him. His head felt light headed and his body felt empty. Jimmy walked swiftly beside him, "So you want me to give you some roller blading lessons this weekend? I'm free Saturday if I get all my chores done on time."

"Oh… I don't know. I don't know if Seto will let me go out this weekend, he's always worried I'm going to get hurt in some way or another," Mokuba lied. Although the story did sound like something that could be truthful, but in this instance he was lying. Jimmy stared at him as they walked out of the building.

"Are you sure you're okay? You've been kind of… dead, ever since you came back from staying after with Ms. Morgan. Has she been ripping on you for something? I would totally believe you if she has, it might explain why she's so incredibly nice to you during class." The images of what Ms. Morgan did to him flashed back in his mind and he shut his eyes violently to keep back the tears.

"No… nothing like that. She just told me that…" Mokuba had to think for a moment, "That I got a bad grade on a test. She wanted me to try and do some test corrections to raise my score."

"Lucky! Every time I try to get her to do that for me she simply tells me that I should stop skating and do some more studying. She's a total bitch!" In that moment, Elizabeth, Marie, and Chris appeared from behind them.

"Hey guys, ready to go catch a movie?" Marie asked. Jimmy looked over at Mokuba.

"Do you wanna come with us Mokuba? Or will your brother not let you do that either?"

"Yeah… he won't let me, I'm almost positive," Mokuba lied once more. Elizabeth and Marie frowned.

"That's too bad, I would've loved to have you join us!"

"Yeah, me too. But I guess we'll see you Monday, eh?"

"Heh… yeah… Monday." Mokuba dreaded the thought of going to school again, having only two days without the nightmare beginning once again. If only there were a way to stop this all from happening…

"Well, we'll see you around." The three of them said their goodbyes and walked off and soon Mokuba was alone. Mokuba sat down on the front steps of the school, feeling utterly depressed. The school was now deserted; Mokuba knew they were already on their buses or in their cars, looking forward to a fun filled and exciting weekend. They all had places to be and people to see. While here he sat, alone, with nothing to look forward to except a weekend filled with anxiety about the next week.

A car pulled up in front of him and he slowly got up, took a deep breath, and made his way into the car. He threw his backpack on the side and got in without a word. Seto turned around, smiling. "Hey Mokuba, how was school?"

"Nothing happened." Seto's smile began to fade.

"Nothing at all?"

"Let's just go home, okay?" Seto stared at him.

"Did something bad happen today?"

"Nothing bad happened, I just want to go home," Mokuba stated in an annoyed tone. Steven looked over at Seto.

"Maybe we should just drop it."

"Don't tell me what to do! You don't make the rules here."

"I wasn't telling you what to do, I was simply making a suggestion."

"I don't need YOUR suggestions, I'm not paying you to tell me how to live my life."

"I assure you Sir, I was doing nothing of the sort." Mokuba sighed and leaned against the window. He just wanted to go home and hide up in his room wishing Monday would never come. Seto and Steven continued to argue until at some point in time they finally drove home. Mokuba made his way silently to his room where he remained for the rest of the night without being disturbed. And there he would remain, wrapping himself in denial and pretending nothing ever happened.

**Three Months Later…**

It was late… very late. This might not have been the first time, but it most certainly was the latest he had ever been. Steven looked down at his watch anxiously for possibly the hundredth time that night. There had been no calls made, no signs of whereabouts, nothing to calm Steven's nerves. He tried to sit still, but he couldn't. Steven got up once more and began pacing again. His heart was racing in his chest and he wasn't quite sure if it would ever stop. Then there was a knock on the door, and everything stopped.

Steven slowly walked over to the door and opened it. It was none other than Seto Kaiba himself as he collapsed onto the floor after Steven had opened the door. He stared down angrily at the drunken man that lay before him. "You told me you would be back at ten o'clock." Seto mumbled something that couldn't be heard since his face was plastered to the floor. Steven grabbed Seto by the back of his collar and forcefully pulled him up and to his feet. He straightened him so that he was looking him in the eye. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Whatever time I want it ta be…" Seto grumbled, spitting on Steven's shirt. Steven dragged him into the living room and dropped him on the ground. He glared down at him with unforgiving eyes.

"Mokuba stayed up way past his bed time waiting for you. You were getting drunk again, weren't you?" Seto slowly made his way back up to his feet so that he could face Steven eye to eye.

"You have no idea what I have to go through… you wouldn't understand!"

"Oh, it doesn't take a lot of understanding to know what's going on. Mr. Kaiba, scratch that, Seto, how can this possibly be a solution to your stress problem? Your brother needs you, you're gone every night and we were wondering if you would even come home this time."

"Don't talk to me that way… you are my SLAVE, you got that? I am your MASTER so I will be addressed as Mister Kaiba, always."

"I will never pay respect to such a low down drunk such as yourself. Unlike you, I have some dignity left to hang onto." Seto jumped forward and grabbed him by the collar.

"What did you say to me, kid? You lookin for a fight?"

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba stood in the doorway, staring at him with frightful eyes. Seto turned and looked over at him.

"What are you going to do now Seto? I shouldn't even ask that… you're so drunk right now you probably don't even know that's your brother who's seeing you in this condition." Seto raised his hand and smacked Steven right across the face.

"Nii-sama! Stop!" Mokuba ran forward and grabbed his brother by the arm in hopes of holding him back from hurting Steven anymore. Seto twisted around and punched Mokuba in the face in response, sending his brother to the ground. Steven tackled Seto to the ground and pinned him down. Mokuba stared at his brother. "Who are you…?"

"Mokuba, get out of here. He might hurt you again." Mokuba stared at his brother in complete shock.

"You're not my brother… You're not my Nii-sama!" Mokuba yelled before running out of the room in tears. Seto's eyes widened as the alcohol slowly began to slip away and his mind was beginning to see reality again. Steven got up looking down upon him with such disappointment.

"I hope you're happy Seto Kaiba… I hope you're happy."

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys, sorry for late update and a seemingly short chapter. I will admit I was sorta rushing to get this finished on account of my trip coming up real soon. I hope you guys weren't annoyed or anything with the flashback at the beginning of the chapter. I figured I would bore you with the whole "training" process and I figured I had flashbacks of his father and his step father's death, I might as well thrown in his mother's too. So, yeah, you might not hear from me for about a week or so because of my whole trip, but I'm hoping that I'll bounce right back up and start writing again once I get over jet lag. I'll miss you guys and you're reviews, and I'm hoping this chapter didn't disappoint you!_


	17. By Means of Friendship

AmePiper: I'm glad the last chapter wasn't a fail! Seriously, I really felt like you guys were gonna be so disappointed with me after that last chapter and just stop reading altogether, but I'm glad you're still sticking with me! There's definitely more to come now that I'm back from my trip, so do enjoy!

Peach Wookee: Indeed. Thanks for the review!

Mystical Sand: Yay! Everyone has faith in the friends! I feel like I'm not making them important enough in this story, hopefully this chapter will be an improvement of that. I'm also really glad you liked the flashback because I was wondering if it was just going to annoy people or if people were going to think it was just plain useless or, I don't know, bad things. But I'm glad you like it, makes me smile. Thanks for the review!

Afiong Bassey: It's never to late to drop a review! You're just on time anyway since I was on a trip all of last week and couldn't really write much. And I can totally understand where you're coming from with exams and school and what not. It can really get in the way. Thanks for the review!

julia: I'm glad you're liking the story so far! I hope this update was quick enough for you, enjoy!

Chapter 17

_By Means of Friendship_

When Mokuba awoke the next morning he had almost forgotten everything that had occurred the night before the pain in his face finally came back to him. Mokuba rubbed his cheek and walked to the bathroom. The bruise had become considerably noticeable. He sighed, but had come to the conclusion that nothing could be done about it. So instead, he began to do his daily routine. He started the water for a shower and stripped down naked.

Mokuba looked at himself in the mirror, observing the small and frail body that stood before him. There were bruises all over him, not as noticeable as the one that stood proudly on his cheek, and were not created by the hand of his own brother. Ms. Morgan was the one to blame for this. She had begun to get violent with her actions in the last month or so. Thankfully her marks were in places that could be hidden under clothes, Mokuba was thankful for that. For in the last 3 months, he had sunk into complete denial of what had been happening, pretending it wasn't what it was.

When he was finished showering and got dressed, Mokuba slowly headed down stairs. Fear began to creep up inside him and the thought of seeing his brother again after what had happened last night scared him. But he walked on with his head up high, telling himself to try and remain calm. As he stepped into the dining room he found his brother sitting there, like any other day, with a hang over. Although this wasn't odd for young Mokuba to see his brother like this, these days he would always see Seto in this condition in the morning. It was only this morning that his drinking left a mark that was printed across his face for the entire world to see.

Mokuba pulled out a seat at the other end of the table, making sure to sit as far away from Seto as possible. Seto looked up upon hearing the sound of the chair and stood to his feet. "Mokuba… I…" Mokuba glared at Seto. Seto looked at him with eyes that held total desperation. He wanted to say so many things, but didn't know how to put them into actual words and tell them to his younger brother. Instead, he found himself just standing there, only making the silence more awkward.

"Well, it's good to see you remember his name," Steven sneered as he entered the room and placed Mokuba's breakfast in front of him. Seto's eyes turned to Steven.

"You stay out of this."

"I'm not going to stay out of this. I'm tired of staying out of this. Your drinking is becoming out of control."

"This is none of your business!"

"Your mind has been completely warped since you've started drinking. Look at you. You're a mess. You're beginning to forget everything that mattered to you most, now all you care about is when and how you'll get drunk next."

"That's not true!" Seto looked over at Mokuba as if to ask him to back him up, but Mokuba only stared at him with the eyes of complete disappointment. "Mokuba… I'm sorry about last night…"

"You're always sorry for last night. You're always sorry for not showing up for dinner, you're always sorry for forgetting to help me with my homework, you're always sorry for never seeing me anymore. Well, I'm sorry I even wasted my time. What you did last night was unforgivable," Mokuba now stood to his feet and turned to Steven, "Can you please drive me to school?" Steven nodded. Mokuba left the room and went out the front door without another word to his brother. Steven was about to follow him when Seto called out.

"You better not go. I demand that you don't go."

"I'm sorry, but Mokuba needs to get to school and from what I see, you're in no condition to drive him. Have a great day." Steven left like that. Seto now stood in the house, completely alone. He sunk into his chair.

"How could this have happened?" He looked at his watch; he was going to be late for work if he didn't hurry. But it didn't matter. Seto knew he needed to talk to someone, and he knew just who to talk to. Seto headed upstairs to his office and dialed a number on his house phone.

"Hello?"

"Isono, it's me."

"Mr. Kaiba? Is everything alright? You sound terrible."

"Everything's terrible. Look Isono, I need you here. Have you saved up enough money to fly over here yet?"

"Yes I have! I was just waiting for the call, Mr. Kaiba. I'll book a flight right away."

"Thank god. Things have just gone terribly wrong and now my own butler has turned on me. You have to come and help me straighten things out."

"Of course Mr. Kaiba, you can always count on me. I'll try and get there as soon as possible. Mark my words."

"I will. I hope to see you tonight." Seto hung up the phone. He looked at the phone for a very long time before heading out the door and driving to work. His mind was thinking a million things at once, and although he wanted more than anything than to be there of all places, Seto Kaiba was a man of his duty. And so he went, and he worked.

* * *

Mokuba cringed at the sound of the bell. Ms. Morgan's classroom began to empty as it always did, but one student remained in the room besides Mokuba. Jimmy walked over to Mokuba and sat in the chair next to him.

"Hey Mokuba… are we cool? I feel like you don't want to be friends anymore," Jimmy said with a saddened face. Mokuba looked up into his face, but instead of finding only harsh lies, he saw intense emotions that pointed towards love and truthfulness. Mokuba wanted to tear himself apart, he felt so terrible for avoiding him for so long for him to believe that there was something wrong with him that made Mokuba drift away. What a friend he had found, and what a friend he had almost lost; that's what Mokuba felt about it.

As Mokuba opened his mouth to reply, to tell his true and dearest friend how he felt and wanted more than anything to renew the friendship they once had, Ms. Morgan appeared from behind Jimmy and tapped the boy on the shoulder. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Mokuba and I have a learning session right now." Jimmy looked up at Ms. Morgan, then back down to Mokuba.

"Yes Ms. Morgan," Jimmy replied sorrowfully as he picked up his backpack and slowly skated out of the room and out of site. The door was shut and locked behind him. Ms. Morgan twisted around and looked over at Mokuba, whom now held a gloom face.

"Oh, don't be so down. This is the fun part," She said with an evil smile as she shut the blinds and closed the windows as she always did. Mokuba ignored her comment as he thought deeply about his friend. Never in his life had he actually met someone who was a true friend, who really cared about him and what he thought. How could he have been so stupid as to lose him like that? Mokuba knew he was afraid of Jimmy finding out about Ms. Morgan of him, what Jimmy would think if he ever knew his dreaded secret, but there must've been another way of hiding it. "Get over here," the she devil commanded.

Mokuba walked over to Ms. Morgan without a fight or sign of objection. Ms. Morgan began to strip him down as she kissed him passionately. She stopped once she began to notice that Mokuba was not fighting at all. She broke away from him and stopped what she was doing. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Then why aren't you fighting?"

"Because I don't care anymore." Ms. Morgan punched him in the shoulder and kicked him to the ground. She placed one of her feet on top of his stomach and looked down at him.

"What do you mean you don't care?"

"I don't care… I've given up trying to fight you… trying to get away… given up the idea of freedom." Ms. Morgan took back her foot and slammed it down on the ground.

"Oh really?" She said angrily. Mokuba stared at her with bewilderment, he hadn't the slightest idea why she was getting so upset. He'd think that she'd be happy at the least of the idea of him finally giving up and him forever being her doll to play with. "Well, we'll most certainly see about that!" She buttoned back up her shirt and pulled him to his feet.

"You may leave." At first, Mokuba just stared at her. He thought maybe she was just playing another one of her sick games, and was actually going to toture him yet again for the next half hour. "Go on now, I told you to leave." Mokuba slowly turned away and walked out the door. Once he had made it out, his heart felt light and filled with joy. It was as if a giant boulder had been lifted off his heart and he was now free to live his life.

Mokuba threw his back pack onto his shoulders and raced down the hallways towards the lunch room. His eyes scanned the room and once they spotted Jimmy, Mokuba made his way towards him and the table he once sat at. "Hey guys." Everyone looked up.

"Mokuba? What a pleasant surprise, where have you been?" Elizabeth asked, giving him a smile.

"Well, Ms. Morgan said I don't need anymore help with my homework, so I can come to lunch now." Marie smiled.

"That's great news, Mokuba. Come on, you can sit with us. You're always welcome." Mokuba gave a great big smile, but before he sat, he turned towards Jimmy.

"Jimmy, can I talk to you for a sec?" Jimmy nodded and got to his feet. Both the boys walked to the other side of the cafeteria. "Hey… I just wanted to tell you, that I still really want to be your friend. And I'm sorry I've been kind of avoiding you for the past few weeks. I swear it's not you, it's just been… my family and what's been going at home, everything's been so weird, so I was kind of cutting myself off from everyone. I hope you can forgive me." Jimmy smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Of course, we are friends, aren't we?" Mokuba smiled and nodded his head.

"It's good to have you back."

"Thanks Jimmy, same to you."

* * *

Seto stood at the door, pacing back and forth non-stop. Steven was sitting on the floor near him, watching him do this. "…So you're waiting for someone?" Steven asked, finally breaking the silence. Seto glared at him.

"It's really none of your business, but if you must ask, yes." Steven shrugged.

"Is it a girl or something?" Seto stopped and looked at him.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Sure, it was a hard concept for me to believe as well." Seto growled and was about to throw a punch right at Steven's face when the door bell rang. Seto froze. Steven stared at him. "Well… are you gonna get that? Cause I can get it if-"

"I'll get it!" Seto stated, walking over to the door and opening it. His face melted into a smile. But it was not a smile that Steven had seen before. Not a kind of smile that Seto had given to Mokuba. It was a smile that any person would do when they were reunited with something that was meaningful. "It's good to see you again."

Seto embraced Isono in his arms and held him tightly. 'This must be what it's like to have a friend…' Seto thought to himself as the two men were silent, only letting their thoughts flow through their arms and wrap around one another. They broke away quite quickly, but the second they had were meaningful. "I see you have a nice place here, but can it really replace that ghost of a mansion you use to live in?" Isono and Seto both laughed together. Isono noticed Steven standing in the corner. "Who's the kid?"

"Oh…" Seto's smile disappeared, "That's Steven, my new butler." Isono and Steven examined one another, there was a fire between the two already and they barely knew the other person. It was a sense of place; the new butler verses the old. "Steven, this is Isono. Isono, this is Steven."

"Nice to meet you." Neither of them shook the other's hand.

"And I, you," Steven replied intelligently. Seto rolled his eyes.

"Please Isono, do come in. Would you like something to drink? Steven, fetch the man a drink, won't you?" Steven and Isono were glaring at one another.

"Right away, Sir," Steven said, obediently stepping into the kitchen and disappearing from the room.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! Well, I got back from my trip on Sunday and here I am updating Wednesday night. I don't think I did too badly on updating, but I'm sure I'll be able to update a lot more quickly with the next chapter. Believe me, this story is about to get a lot more interesting and I'm so excited for the next few chapters! So keep your eyes peeled for that author alert e-mail and look out for chapter 18!_


	18. Heart and Soul

Peach Wookiee: I loved your review! That last part really made me laugh, it was so funny and cute. Yeah, you'll have to see though what happens to her. Don't worry, things are gonna start happening very, very soon. You'll see. Thanks again for that fun review!

Afiong Bassey: Seto has been a jerk, hasn't he? Oh well, I suppose if he wasn't a jerk he wouldn't necessarily be the Seto Kaiba we know and love… we do love him, right? I'm kidding, we all love Seto Kaiba! Some times… haha. Hope you like this chapter!

Candy world: Thanks for the many, many reviews! I feel bad, though, for having you read my story rather than do your exams. But I hope this chapter is amazing and that you love it. I updated uber quickly this time! Thanks for the reviews!

AmePiper: Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it a lot!

Chapter 18

_Heart and Soul_

The following morning, Mokuba woke up with a smile on his face. It felt as though it was a brand new day and a brand new start. The fact that his older brother was slipping into an alcoholic cycle of drinking and getting drunk almost every day had almost completely disappeared from his train of thought. The only thing he could think about was the math class that he wouldn't be dreading, and the lunch period he could have once again to enjoy with his renewed friends. It was as though the last 3 months of torture was all in the past, and life was new in this odd country Mokuba found himself calling home.

The boy happily got himself dressed and swiftly walked down the stairs to find that not only his brother was seated at the table, but his old butler as well. Mokuba stopped and stared at him. "Isono?" Isono looked up from the newspaper he was reading and smiled upon seeing Mokuba.

"It's good to see you," Isono got to his feet and hugged Mokuba as he ran over to him. Mokuba returned the hug with a tight squeeze.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came here to help you and your brother out. My flight ran a little late last night so I didn't get here until after you had already fallen asleep." Mokuba looked over at his brother. He had thought the night before that the reason why Seto was out was because he was busy getting drunk after a long day at work, but to hear that he was out picking up Isono from the airport instead of that gave him a light of hope. Maybe things weren't as bad as they had seemed.

"Well, I better get going. I have to get to school." Seto looked at his watch.

"School? But school doesn't start for a while…you sure you want to leave so early?" Mokuba nodded. His heart was filled with excitement; he couldn't bear to wait at home for school to start. And if he made it there in time, he might just be early enough to catch up with Jimmy before classes started up. "Well, if you really want to…"

"I can drive him to school," Steven suggested, popping out of the kitchen with plates of food in his hands. Seto and Isono both gave Steven an evil look.

"That's quite alright Steven, I'm sure Mokuba would like to catch up with Isono for a bit this morning and would love to have me drive him at that time." Mokuba raised one eyebrow.

"No… that's okay. Steven can drive me. Plus, isn't that better for you guys? Then you guys can catch up and I won't bother you." Mokuba turned and grabbed his backpack and sweatshirt. "So are we going Steven?" Steven nodded and quickly took off his silly apron that Seto had forced him to wear as a way of humiliating him. Seto and Isono were silent as they watched him and Mokuba race out the front door. "See ya Seto and Isono!" They could hear Mokuba call before he shut the door behind him.

"I'm not fond of that butler you have there. He seems like one of those rebel kind of guys, a man who could turn on you at any given moment if he has some sort of stupid righteous cause to fight for."

"I know exactly what you mean, I feel that way too." Seto looked down at his watch again, then stood up, "We have to go though. I have to get to work." Isono looked at him.

"You have another job?"

"I'm sure you've heard about Kaiba Corp. taken over."

"Oh… right… well, where do you work now?" Seto sighed.

"You'll see."

* * *

"Industrial Illusions?" Isono stared at Seto, "This is where you work?" Seto, with a look of defeat on his face, slowly nodded in response. "Well… what position do you work?"

"Administrative Assistant."

"An assistant? Mr. Kaiba, you and I both know you are no assistant."

"Well, with Pegasus as my boss, I am." Isono's eyes widened.

"Maximillion Pegasus? HE'S your boss?" Seto nodded once more. Seto motioned to follow him as they headed inside. "I can't believe this… Mr. Kaiba, he's your enemy. How can you be working for him?"

"Isono, the world is my enemy, and yet I still have to comply with the rules of society." They both stepped into the elevator side by side and watched as the doors closed. "I can no longer run around, waving money in the face of any man that gets in my way, when I lost my company, I lost my power and my position in this world."

"Mr. Kaiba, I think when you moved to this wrecked country, that was when you lost what power you had." Seto shot a glare at Isono.

"I had to do it. For the sake of Mokuba, I had to risk everything." They both stepped out of the elevator and began to walk down the long hallway toward his office.

"But Mr. Kaiba, is this really how you imagined 'your great escape' to be like? I mean, I love the kid too, but I never imagined, you, of all people, to be an assistant for a man such as Pegasus." Seto stopped and turned around.

"You're not his brother, Isono, you can't possibly imagine what it feels like watching him suffer and knowing it's your own damn fault for it. I couldn't live any longer in Japan knowing my brother's life was constantly at risk, I simply couldn't. Mokuba isn't just some kid, he's my younger brother and I would rather risk my life and everything I own… just so he could be safe." Seto twisted back around and headed into the office section where he worked. Isono quickly followed silently behind.

When Seto finally made it to his cubicle, he found Duke sitting in his chair waiting for him. Duke stood up when he saw Seto. "What are you doing here?" Seto asked with his deathly voice switch on at the moment.

"Pegasus wants to see you in his office." Duke noticed Isono standing behind Seto. "Who's he? And what's he doing here?"

"He's a friend of mine."

"Does he even have a visitor's pass? You can't just let anyone waltz in here. He needs to go through-" Seto began to walk away just as he had started explaining. Duke shrugged and shook his head.

Seto walked into Pegasus's office with his head up high and Isono standing firmly behind him. "You wanted to see me?" Pegasus twisted around in his big chair and immediately noticed Isono's presence in the room.

"Who is that?"

"Isono, an old butler of mine."

"Oh, I see…" Pegasus looked Isono up and down, then ignored him and turned his attention towards Seto. "You were late today, Seto Kaiba. You've been late a lot these past couple days."

"My apologies, Sir. Things have just been rough back at home."

"And where are those papers I handed to you a week ago? You're beginning to fall behind, Kaiba. You know slackers aren't allowed to work in this company."

"My apologies once again Sir, it's just that you've been piling all this work on me, it's impossible for me to do it all in the time that you ask me to do it." Pegasus stood to his feet, bringing his hand to his chin, and staring Seto right in the eyes. Seto stood with an emotionless face.

"Is that so? You want to know what I think, Kaiba? I think you don't want this job bad enough, I think you're beginning to become unmotivated."

"Well, it's not like you pay me enough for half the shit you make me do." Pegasus's eyes flared with anger.

"What was that?"

"I can't pay half my bills with the pay I make in only a month. I do almost all your work, and I can't finish most of it. If you expect me to work even harder, I suggest a raise." Pegasus walked towards him until he was standing right in front of him.

"Is that a command, Administrative Assistant?" Pegasus asked.

"No Sir, it's a request." Seto still kept his ground; his face still held no emotions what so ever.

"Assistants don't get to make requests, Kaiba, assistants have to wait until they are given the privilege of such a request to be made. Therefore, you are in no position to be making such requests." Pegasus turned away and walked back to his desk, sitting back down in his chair. "You may return to your cubicle. But you have been warned, Kaiba. Test my patience, and I will terminate you." Pegasus twisted his chair back around and waited for Seto to leave. But Seto stood there silently, not making any sort of effort to leave. "I said, you that you can go, Kaiba, did-"

"I'm going to lose my home if I don't get a raise." The room fell silent. Isono froze and stared at Seto, his face showed no sign of breaking down from its current icy state. It seemed as though his words echoed through the office. Pegasus turned his chair for the second time and stared at him.

"And you think that just because of that, I'll give you a raise?" Seto knew he had lost now, "Seto Kaiba, it's a big, big world out there. People have to fight to get what they need and what they want. If you truly wanted that raise, you'd be putting you're whole heart into this."

"I am putting my whole heart into this, I'm putting my SOUL into this," Seto stomped over to Pegasus's desk and slammed his hands onto it, staring him in the eye, "Do you know what it's like? Waking up every day, knowing you're nothing more than a low life assistant? I use to be champion, I use to be the best. And now all I am is a fucking assistant!" Seto pushed all the papers and things on Pegasus's desk onto the floor with one mighty sweep with both his hands. Pegasus stood up.

"Get out of my office." Seto took back his hands and left his office. As he was silently returning to his cubicle, he could feel the eyes of his peers and co-workers staring at him as he made his way and sat down. Duke stood by Seto's cubicle and opened his mouth when he came close to him, but decided not to say anything.

"This is… the life I live now," Seto said with a stern face, "The great Seto Kaiba is no longer the CEO of a great company. The great Seto Kaiba is on the brink of homelessness and total destruction."

* * *

The bell rang and Mokuba was bright and happy all through out math class. Ms. Morgan wasn't there that day which led him to believe that his life was finally normal. In her place was a substitute, whom proved to be of no threat and didn't explain why Ms. Morgan was absent that day. Mokuba hoped that Ms. Morgan had been fired for good. When that bell rang, Mokuba knew he was free at last to live his life the way he had wanted to live it from the beginning.

Jimmy and Mokuba walked side by side out of the classroom, when a counselor pulled him aside just as he had walked out of the door of the classroom. "Are you Mokuba Kaiba?" Mokuba stared at her, but nodded. "Could you please come with me?" Mokuba turned to Jimmy. Jimmy shrugged.

"I guess I'll see you at the lunch table when you get out." Mokuba nodded and followed the woman down the hallway and into the principal's office. Mokuba looked around. His heart stopped when he spotted Ms. Morgan sitting in between the principal and the assistant principal. There was a police officer in the room as well.

"What's going on?" Mokuba choked out, his heart was beginning to beat faster and faster. He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, but his gut was telling him something terrible was about to happen.

"You don't need to worry, just sit down and relax. We have our secretary calling your brother right at this moment."

* * *

Seto stared at the pile of papers in front of him. "How does he expect me to finish all of these by tonight?" Seto looked over at Isono, but all Isono did was look down in sadness.

"I'm sorry Mr. Kaiba, I'm not sure myself." Seto gave a loud sigh of frustration. The phone rang. Seto picked up it.

"Yes?"

"Is this Mr. Kaiba?"

"Yes, that's me. What do you want?"

"Mr. Kaiba, this is the secretary of San Fran Middle School. The principal has asked me to call you. There's a very important matter that needs to be discussed right now in her office. We have your brother with us currently."

"What?! Is he hurt? Is something wrong?"

"There's not much us I'm allowed to tell you, Sir, we just need you to come down here as soon as possible."

"I'm on my way." Seto slammed down the phone and turned back towards Isono. "We're leaving." Seto got up and headed towards the exit. Duke stood up and ran beside him.

"Kaiba, where are you going?"

"My brother needs me."

"But you have too much work to do today. You can't just leave." Seto stopped and turned to him.

"Watch me."

"Kaiba, if you leave now, there's a great possibility you'll be fired."

"I don't care. My brother needs me and I am willing to risk anything and everything to help him." Seto and Isono left the office with that. Duke stood in the middle of the hallway astonished and confused. Somehow he knew Seto Kaiba wasn't going to be coming back anytime soon.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! Me again with another quick update! Don't you love those quick updates? I know I sure do! Oh yes, and just to let you guys know, if you have any questions what so ever about a sentence that might've been confusing, or something that happened that wasn't clear enough, you can totally let me know. Just leave a question in a review or you can e-mail me. My e-mail is on my profile, so anyone can find me. Or just send me a message through fanfiction. Don't be afraid to ask, cause I want everyone to be updated and not feel lost when reading my story. I'm just throwing that little detail out there for anyone who needs it, I hope you liked the chapter!_


	19. Secrets Revealed

AmePiper: I'm sorry for the cliff hanger! Oh, but I must ask, what does HMG mean? And I'm sorry once more, I didn't mean to emotionally black mail you, I swear it!! Sometimes us writers don't realize we're leaving you on a cliff to hang for several hours! But anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Candy World: I hope this chapter was soon enough. I tried to write it as fast as I could, but making sure to keep in all the juicy details. Thanks for the review!

Mystical Sand: Damn, you catch on quick! I can't believe this, you've practically figured out the whole story already! Well, I still have a couple more surprises up my sleeve and one BIG surprise coming up soon so that's something to look forward too. Thanks for the review!

Afiong Bassey: I updated as soon as I could! I hope it was soon enough, please enjoy!

Chapter 19

_Secrets Revealed_

"Seto Kaiba," the principal stood up when Seto entered the room, "Please… have a sit." Seto scanned the room and observed the people in it. His eyes stopped when he saw Mokuba. His face looked very frightened and dark, the boy had his legs pulled to his chest and rested his head on his knees.

"Mokuba!" Mokuba looked up and his face brightened. Mokuba was about to get to his feet when the police officer placed his hand on Mokuba's shoulder and gave him a stern face that told him to remain seated. Seto tried to make his way across the room towards his brother, but the principal led him to a chair on the other side of the room instead.

"Mr. Kaiba, we called you in here for a specific reason. You see… Ms. Morgan, Mokuba's math teacher, has been noticing some odd things about Mokuba and his outer appearance." Seto raised one eyebrow and looked over at the teacher. She ignored him completely and kept her eyes focused on the principal. Seto's glance returned to the principal as well.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say," Seto said.

"Well… Mr. Kaiba, I'm just going to come out and say it. We have reason to believe that you've been physically abusing your brother." Seto's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.

"What?!" The police officer was now standing and was quite ready to get involved when the situation got out of hand. The principal took a step back. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Mr. Kaiba, look at your brother. What do you think that is on his face?" Seto looked over at Mokuba once more, and his heart stopped. The bruise on Mokuba's cheek had been of Seto's doing. He might've been drunk, but he still remembered. The first time he had ever hit his brother, and that was the mark that was left of it. Seto was about to open his mouth to explain when the principal began speaking again. "Mokuba, could you please stand up and take off your shirt."

Mokuba slowly did what he asked and slipped off his shirt, revealing the multiple bruises and cuts up and down his chest and the feeble body that bear them all. Seto stared in complete astonishment at the bruises, he had hit Mokuba once, but the rest had not been Seto's. Or were they? Seto began to question himself inside his head, pondering whether these had been done when he was drunk, but Seto knew that even if he was drunk, he would know when and if he had ever harmed his brother.

"This can't be…" Seto said to himself, staring at Mokuba's wounds, and then looking up at the boy's face. Mokuba's eyes did not meet with Seto's; he simply stared at the ground in shame. "Mokuba…"

"Mr. Kaiba, you're under arrest for Child Abuse." Both Mokuba and Seto's heads both shot up with shock.

"WHAT?! Arrested??" The officer started making his way towards Seto, Seto looked over at Mokuba, then at the principal. "Please Sir… I would never hurt my brother, I would never hurt him. He's everything I have left… you can't take me away from him. Where will he go? Who will he live with?"

"Well, thankfully Ms. Morgan has generously volunteered to take care of Mokuba in your absence." Mokuba's eyes widened and he now looked over at Ms. Morgan. Ms. Morgan shot him an evil grin, and that's when he knew this had been her plan all along. There was never a promise of a normal life, just a promise of a new life that was even worse. He was suddenly overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions. He began to shake violently. He knew that if he didn't do something quick his brother was going to be put in jail.

"Please! Please stop!" Seto turned towards Mokuba, "Mokuba… I know I haven't been the best brother these past few days, but you have to tell them how much you mean to me. You have to stand up and show them that I'm not a child abuser; that I would never in my dreams ever want to hurt you for any reason. Don't let them take me away from you, Mokuba!" The officer already had Seto's wrists by this time and was in the action of pulling his arms behind his back when Mokuba finally stood up.

"STOP!" Mokuba yelled, "Don't arrest my brother… he didn't do all of this to me…" Tears began to stream down Mokuba's face. "He didn't do any of this to me… it was Ms. Morgan!" He pointed his finger at Ms. Morgan and the whole room fell silent as all eyes were now on her. "Ms. Morgan… Ms. Morgan raped me!" The whole room gasped. Ms. Morgan now jumped to her feet. The principal turned to Ms. Morgan.

"Is this true Ms. Morgan?"

"Of course it's not-"

"It is true, you lying snake! She raped me. Not only once… but many times. Every day after class since the beginning of the year… and I may never be the same again…" Tears were now flowing down Mokuba face and his whole body was violently shaking. It felt as though all the emotions he had pent up inside himself had just exploded and were flowing all out of him. Ms. Morgan gripped her hands into fists.

"I'm going to hurt you so bad you'll never utter another word again!" Ms. Morgan launched herself with her claws out, ready to rip Mokuba to pieces. Seto slipped out of the officer's hands and glided in front of Ms. Morgan, sending a powerful punch right in her gut. Ms. Morgan froze for a moment just before she started slowly falling to the floor. Seto kneeled down and put his mouth right beside her ear. "Don't you EVER try touching my brother AGAIN."

Seto got back up to his feet and ran to Mokuba's side, "Mokuba… oh my god… Mokuba!" He wrapped his arms around Mokuba and just let him fall into his arms. Mokuba continued to cry without speaking, just letting everything come out of him. Everyone else in the room left the two brothers alone as they got Ms. Morgan to her feet and in hand cuffs. Seto stroked Mokuba's hair repeatedly, whispering soft and loving words to his brother to calm him down. "It's all going to be okay… I'm here Mokuba… I'll never let anyone touch you or hurt you again…"

When the principal returned, Seto said nothing. He carefully got up holding Mokuba in his arms and left. He walked through the halls and out of the school holding Mokuba tightly against his chest. Isono looked up when Seto got into the car and closed the door. He looked over at Mokuba, "Is Master Mokuba going to be okay?" He immediately asked, but Seto signaled him to be silent.

"Just drive us home."

* * *

Steven sighed, looking at the mail that lay on the bed he sat on. He turned his head and looked over at the desk that had a pile more of the same letters sitting on top of it, untouched since they had been retrieved and forgotten. Steven knew Seto wasn't paying the bills, and he had also figured out that Seto wasn't making enough money to pay all of them so Seto was simply going to let the bills pile up and carry on with his day. Steven also knew that whatever money Seto did have, he spent on drinking.

After working for Seto Kaiba, Steven had pretty much figured out the kind of man Seto was. Although Seto proved to be a complex character, but not too complex to understand when given time to observe such a character. Seto Kaiba enjoyed power, he was use to living the high life with money and power, and he was also in a deep denial of many things; one being his current situation with his job and money.

Although Seto treated Steven poorly, he felt as though it were his duty to help him in any way he can. But Steven could admit that when he did help Seto, he was thinking more about the child than the actual man he was helping. Mokuba was in such a difficult situation, and Steven couldn't bear to watch him simply fall into a depression. His brother was no longer available for him, so Steven would make damn sure he would be. The boy needed someone to cling to in his time of need, and he had no other family that could do that for him.

As Steven snapped out of his deep emotional thoughts he continued to sort the mail and placed it onto the pile that grew every day. He opened the drawer in the desk and slipped an empty envelope with one hand and grabbing a huge wad of dollar bills from his pocket with the other. He slowly slipped the money into his envelope and sealed it with some tape, placing it back into his pocket after doing so. Steven heard the door open and quickly ran to the stairway.

"Mr. Kaiba? What are you doing back so early… what happened to Mokuba?" Seto walked into the living room without answering Steven, Isono following him from behind. Steven ran down the stairs and into the living room. Mokuba's sobs were now beginning to calm down as Seto laid his brother gently onto the couch. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Get me some water and a blanket," Seto commanded. Steven nodded and was on his way. Isono looked over at Seto.

"Mr. Kaiba… I…" Isono wasn't sure what to say, he didn't know how he could possibly comfort Seto. "Is there anything you need me to do?" Seto shook his head as he knelt down beside his brother, rubbing his brother's back and kissing Mokuba on the head. Mokuba stared off into a never ending space, it seemed as though his eyes could just stare and stare, but never quite find they were looking for. Mokuba had not spoken since his confession at the school, and it didn't look as though he were going to anytime soon.

"I brought the blanket and water," Steven announced. Seto took the water and placed it on the coffee table near the couch and laid the blanket on top of Mokuba.

"If you need anything Mokuba," Seto whispered, "Just tell me." Seto kissed his brother once more before silently walking to the dining room. He sat down at the table, resting his head in his hands. Isono and Steven sat down as well, on opposite ends, next to Seto.

"I can't believe I failed him."

"Mr. Kaiba, you couldn't have known."

"I could've tried to find out! How could I have not noticed those bruises? I should've paid more attention to him… I shouldn't have started drinking… god, look at me. I couldn't protect him…" Seto slammed his fists on the table, "I couldn't protect him!"

"Mr. Kaiba, no one would've guessed that he was going through such abuse."

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Steven asked.

"It's none of your business," Seto barked back.

"Well, when you bring a zombie child into the house and start slamming your fists about it, don't you think I deserve to know?" Seto stood up and grabbed Steven by the collar.

"You have a lot of nerve, bud, a lot of fucking nerve. You better shut your mouth before I shut it for you." Seto let go of Steven's collar and pushed him away, sitting back down at the table. The phone began to ring.

"I'll get it, Mr. Kaiba," Steven stated, leaving the room to answer the phone.

"So what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm not sure, Isono. I feel as though I've lost all control of everything… I guess the only thing I can do is wait and watch. I'll keep my brother in here for the next couple days with 24-hour watch to make sure nothing happens to him. Just the thought of that woman violating my brother… it sickens me. The idea blows me away, I don't even know how I feel anymore… all I ever wanted was for my brother to be safe… and instead I got this."

"Maybe safety was too much to ask for." The room was now completely still between both Seto and Isono. The silence killed both of them, but neither dared to speak. Steven re-entered the room a couple minutes later.

"Industrial Illusions called."

"And what did those bastards have to say?" Seto spat.

"They want to know what happened and why you left. They were also wondering if you're going to be coming back the next day or taking a couple days off. It appears as though you haven't been fired yet, they told me to let you know that." Seto rolled his eyes.

"I could care less about that damned job right now… that vile woman… how dare she do this to my innocent little brother…" Seto slammed his fist onto the table once more, "I could kill her."

"Let's not try to get ourselves arrested now…"

"Steven, go do something useful, why don't you? Go watch Mokuba and make sure he's okay. If anything is wrong, come and tell me right away." Steven left the room again, leaving Isono and Seto to ponder the situation at hand. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! I'm hopinggggg this was a quick update because I know how anxious all of you were to read the next chapter since I totally left you guys hanging at the end of chapter 18. I'm really sorry about that, actually. I didn't realize I completely left you guys hanging back there, but that's why I rushed to make sure I wrote this chapter fast enough to settle your Seto and Mokuba crazed minds! I hope you enjoyed it, I wasn't very fond of this chapter, but I'm hoping you guys were. Look at for chapter 20, and have a happy new year as well! Don't let me down 2008!_


	20. A Decision and the Mistake

julia: Thanks for the review! Enjoy the chapter.

Candy world: Awww, thank you for your most caring review, dear. It definitely made me feel all fuzzy and happy inside for the rest of the day after I read it. I know this update wasn't as quick as the last one, but I hope it makes you smile just as much as your review made me smile.

Fleeting Illicit Delicious: A new reviewer? How wonderful! Welcome to my fanfiction. I'm glad you're enjoying the story thus far. I hope you like this chapter just as much!

Afiong Bassey: Yes, Ms. Morgan finally got what she deserved. But let's see what the after math is.

FROD O BAGANS: I LOVE YOU.

AmePiper: Thanks for letting me know about the story; I'll definitely have to check it out sometime when I'm not busy writing chapters or doing homework. It's got a lot of chapters, but I'm sure I can find some time to read it. Here goes Chapter 20!

Mystical Sand: Thanks for the review! You know I love each and every one of them.

Chapter 20

_A Decision and the Mistake_

Mokuba wasn't quite sure what time it was when he awoke. He pushed back the blanket that lay on top of him and sat upright. He looked down and saw that Seto had fallen asleep on the floor right next to the couch. Mokuba also spotted the glass of water that sat on the coffee table. He slowly grabbed it and started to drink when Seto started to wake up. Seto rubbed his head and looked over at Mokuba.

"Mokuba…" Seto sat up as well, "How… I…" Seto wasn't quite sure what to say. He was fearful that whatever he might say could trigger another emotional break down for his dear little brother.

"Nii-sama?"

"Yes, Mokuba?"

"I'm hungry." Seto held out his hand and held Mokuba's in his.

"I'll make you some dinner." Seto led him the kitchen table and let him sit down. Mokuba sat there with a tired face and yawned. "What do you want to eat?" Seto asked, looking around in the fridge.

"Can I have some cereal?"

"Is that all you want?" Mokuba nodded. Seto grabbed a cereal box, a bowl, milk, and a spoon from various places and set them on the table. Mokuba served himself as he poured the cereal and milk into the bowl. He lifted the spoon and dipped it into the bowl. When he took the spoon back up, his hands were shaking. Mokuba tried to place the spoon in his mouth, but ended up spilling the cereal in his spoon on the table. Mokuba observed his hands, watching them shake non-stop.

"Do you… do you want me to help you?" Seto asked in a quiet voice. Mokuba nodded as tears filled his eyes. Slowly but surely Seto began to feed his younger brother and when the bowl was empty, they sat in silence once more. Mokuba's mind was racing almost as fast as his heart was. "Mokuba… do you… do you want to talk about what happened?" The tears flowed freely down the boy's face.

"There's nothing to talk about…" Mokuba whimpered, but he's saddened face now turned to one of anger, "She ruined my life." Seto took both his brother's hands in his and held them tightly. Mokuba looked up at his elder brother as Seto brought his hands up and kissed them.

"I'm so sorry Mokuba… this has to be all my fault… I wasn't able to protect you."

"Nii-sama… it wasn't-"

"It was. I should've kept a closer eye on you… I should've been around more. I fucked up Mokuba; I honestly fucked up. And I really though… I really thought that if we moved here, our lives would finally be free of all this tragedy, and that you would finally be safe and we could live happily for once in our lives…"

"Wait a second… you moved here because you wanted to protect me?"

"Well… yes. Couldn't you see, Mokuba? Your life was in danger every single day when we lived in Japan, everyone knew my name and knew how to hurt me. And that was by hurting you. After that incident with Hanzo… I almost lost you, Mokuba, and I couldn't stand the thought of ever being in that situation again. I had to do something."

"So you moved us halfway across the world?" Seto was taken back by Mokuba's angry voice.

"Well, yes. How else could I have protected you?"

"Nii-sama, don't you think this is a little extreme?"

"Mokuba, I needed to take extreme measures. You kept getting kidnapped and getting injured. There was bound to be a point where someone would actually kill you."

"I can't believe this… I can't believe you would put me through all this, just because of… of all those bad guys. I mean, I know it sucked, but ever since we've moved here everything has just been total crap and practically worse than before! I can't believe you would do this all to me…" Mokuba stood up, moving away from Seto.

"Mokuba, you have to understand, I was scared. Can you imagine what I went through, watching you bleed and suffer like that and knowing there wasn't one goddamn thing I could do about? Imagine if you died… Mokuba, you know I wouldn't be able to live with myself than to know you died and I could've protected you."

"Nii-sama, I swear… you don't get it do you?" Seto gave Mokuba a confused, yet angry look. How could his brother be so angry with him when he had done it all for him in the first place? Seto didn't understand what he did wrong, if anyone should understand Seto's own actions, it would be Mokuba.

"Don't get what?"

"Nii-sama… it's impossible what you're trying to do. You can't protect someone from getting hurt or feeling pain all their lives. Pain is part of life… life is pain in the long run. Life is about struggles and hard ship… and the idea that you thought you could actually protect me from the rest of the world was just irrational." Seto sat astonished by what his brother had just said. Although Mokuba was only a child still, there were times where it seemed as though he were wiser than the older brother. "I know you love me and I love you… but… moving away from all the pain those kidnappers put me through wasn't worth the pain I felt here, in America or the abuse I had to suffer."

Mokuba left the room. Seto sat completely still, feeling as though all that he had tried to do was nothing more than a failure or a complete waste of time. Seto wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad after hearing Mokuba tell him the plain and simple truth of the matter. He had lost his company, his position, and practically his dignity to protect Mokuba, and now it seemed as though it were only a waste.

How could he have been so stupid as to actually believe he could make things right for Mokuba? From his very birth, life had gone wrong for him, what made him think that another country would make any difference? Was Mokuba destined to a life surrounded by pain and suffering? Seto was confused and wasn't sure what to believe anymore. He thought listening to his own head would only lead to more and more mistakes and stupid decisions.

"Mr. Kaiba? Are you okay?" Seto looked up to see Steven standing at the doorway of the dining room, his eyes filled with worry. Seto looked away.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine… you look like you're about to fall apart."

"As if you could ever understand what I'm going through… I've made so many terrible mistakes in the past…"

"See, that's why you're unable to move forward. Because you're so caught up in what happened in the past, you can't focus on making good decisions in the future. How can you possibly expect to move forward in life if you only focus on the mistakes you made years ago." Seto stood up, a deadly look in his eyes. He walked right up to Steven until their faces were only inches away from one another.

"How dare you comment on the way I live my life; you don't have a clue of what I've gone through and what I've done to try and survive on my own. No one has ever taken care of me; I've been trying to save my own ass since I was 12 years old. I think I know how to live my fucking life. My past has made me who I am."

Steven opened his mouth to protest and counter his statement, but Steven held back. Seto was going through an incredibly hard time, and Steven felt as though he preach anymore to Seto about his thoughts. He decided it was best to just leave him be. "You're right… I'm sorry." Steven reached into his pocket and handed him the envelope, "I want you to have this… I hope it'll help." Seto took the envelope and looked at it for a moment, before tossing it to the ground.

"You're fired."

"…What?"

"You heard me, you're fired. I want you out of my house in the next 3 hours." Steven stood there, and blinked one or twice before shaking his head.

"You… You have to be kidding me, where will I go? I don't have a home, I just gave you all the money I had."

"You can keep you're worthless money." Seto left the room, leaving Steven stunned and hurt. When he snapped back to reality, the fact that Seto had fired him had destroyed his self-esteem. Steven turned his head and looked at the enveloped, untouched and unused, as it lay on the floor. He pondered whether he should take the money back or not. After all, he, himself, was now homeless. Steven reached down to pick it up, but stopped halfway as he remembered his pride. With dignity, Steven stood back up and left the room with his head up high.

* * *

Seto walked without regret as he headed towards his office. Seto wasn't one to feel much guilt in situations like these, he felt as though that life was cruel and that one must deal with it. Seto stopped when he stood in front of Mokuba's room, wondering if he should go and talk to his brother, but decided against it. Seto decided that Mokuba would come to him when the time was right. Therefore he walked on, and headed into his office.

"Well, I fired him… Isono? Are you on the phone?" Isono jumped at the sound of Seto's voice and twisted around.

"I'll call you back," He said quickly into the receiver before hanging up. Seto eyed him.

"Who was that?"

"Oh, that was just my Aunt…" Isono replied. Seto walked over and picked up the phone, he searched and looked at the number on the caller ID.

"It says it's a restricted number."

"Oh, she makes her phone do that sometimes… I'm not sure why." Seto stared at him, then shrugged before placing the phone back down.

"Whatever you say… but as much as I love talking about your family, we need to talk about mine. I think Mokuba's mad at me… I told him the reason why I moved and he got really upset. He told me that my decision was wrong and that we shouldn't have moved just for his protection and that people can't be protected forever… and just… a lot of other things. He just basically beat me down about living here and now I just feel terrible… what do you think I should do?"

"That's a lot to be dealing with Mr. Kaiba… I do feel for you," Isono walked over and stood beside Seto, patting him on the shoulder, "I don't know if action is the right path to be taken right now. I think you should just try to relax for a while. You've been under so much stress, and right after this whole incident with Ms. Morgan, you can't possibly be expected to make another life decision at this very second." Seto pondered the suggestion and sighed.

"I suppose you are right…"

"I know what we can do… I think we should both go and grab a bite to eat, what do you say?"

"I'm not sure I want to leave Mokuba's side after all that's happened in only the last day…"

"Mr. Kaiba, you're overprotective. I mean, your brother eve told you that you're way too overprotective. You need to learn to let go. No one's going to be coming after Mokuba anytime soon and you need to get out of this house before you lose your insanity completely." Seto scratched his chin and thought.

"Well… I guess it can't do any harm…" Seto and Isono walked out of the office and down the stairs. They pasted Steven just as they were about to head out the door when Steven stopped them.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Seto turned around and glared at him.

"That's none of your concern. Just make sure that you're packed and out that door by the time I get back."

"But what about Mokuba? Who's going to watch him?"

"I told you, it's none of your concern." Seto left the house and the house echoed with eeriness. Steven kicked the door in anger. How could Seto be so heartless? Or better yet, how could he be so careless? His brother goes through a traumatic experience, and the next day, Seto is out the door. Steven didn't understand this former CEO, not one bit. This was supposed to be the brother that left his home country for his younger brother, and now he was gone. Steven shook his head and headed back to packing his things. He decided that there was nothing he could do except gather his things and leave.

* * *

The car pulled into the driveway a couple hours later and Seto and Isono got out. But when they entered the house, they found Steven laying on all his suitcases and belongings. Seto slammed the door and Steven awoke. "What are you still doing here?"

"I-I'm sorry Mr. Kaiba, I was just sitting here-I was going to-and I guess I just fell asleep-"

"I don't want anymore excuses Steven," Seto headed up the stairs to Mokuba's room, "If you're not gone by the time I come back down here from checking up on Mokuba, I will call the police on you." Seto stomped up the stairs and disappeared on the second floor. Steven shook his head and looked over at Isono. Isono stood in the corner of the room with a blank expression and a pale face.

"Hey… Mr. Isono… are you alright?" Steven asked walking towards Isono.

"He's gone!" Seto ran down the stairs over to Isono and Steven, "Mokuba's been kidnapped!" Steven gasped while Isono stood motionless. "Isono, Hanzo, he left a note. He has Mokuba. He has my brother Isono… I have no idea how he could've found us… how could he have found us in America? …Isono… why won't you speak?" Seto stared at him. "Isono?"

"I…" Isono started, he turned his head away from Seto in shame. "I told Hanzo where your brother was!"

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys, Kari here with another wonderful chapter! Well, hopefully you all think it's wonderful. Lately I haven't been feeling very confident about these chapters, maybe you guys could reassure me that I'm doing okay? Never hold back constructive criticism though, if you have any for the story! Every writer loves to know how she can improve. Well, I'm hoping you guys did like this chapter and that the next chapter will be updated much more quickly than this one. Toodles!_


	21. Through the Fire and the Flames

Peach Wookiee: Thanks for the review! Much appreciated!

Fleeting Illict Delicious: Thanks for the review and welcome to my fanfiction! I totally agree with you, I do have some grammar errors going on, but I just get so excited after I finish a chapter that I just want to post it up as quick as possible. I'm kind of a little kid at times, but I'm going to work on that from now on. By the way, cool username! You must let me know where you got it sometime.

Afiong Bassey: Thanks for being patient with me! I know, I feel bad for making their lives so horrible… and then delaying the next chapter for a bazillion days. I hope this answers all your questions… or at least some of them. Enjoy.

Chikorita-Trainer1: Thanks for the review!

Mystical Sand: Here we go again, another exciting chapter. I hope your mind is intrigued and in love with this new chapter… that took forever to write. Enjoy!

AmePiper: Thanks for the review and sorry for making you wait so long! I hope this chapter makes you smile and forgive me for taking so long to write it.

Greeneyeswhitedragon: I'm glad you're liking my characters and my story so far. Thanks for the review!

Candy world: Sorry for such a late update and thanks for the review!

And now, after many days of waiting, here is chapter 21!

Chapter 21

_Through the Fire and the Flames_

"You did WHAT?!" Seto grabbed Isono and threw him onto the ground, "Are you telling me you work for Hanzo??"

"Please Mr. Kaiba, you have to understand… I needed the money!" Seto punched Isono across the face.

"You're going to need a reason to live after I'm through with you!" Just as Seto was about to pummel Isono with punches of fury, Steven grabbed Seto's wrist and pulled him back.

"We don't have time for this, we need to get to Mokuba!" Seto elbowed Steven off of him.

"Stay out of this Steven, I told you before this is none of your business. And what do you mean by we?"

"You think I'm just going to call a cab and leave while Mokuba's in danger?" The arguing only went on as Isono sat on the floor ashamed.

"Mr. Kaiba… maybe you should go and get to Mokuba."

"You shut your mouth! You're the one who caused all of this!" Seto reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. Steven jumped backwards.

"Why do you always seem to have a weapon on you?"

" It's just a little habit I picked up living in Japan…" Seto leaned forward and pressed the knife right up to Isono's neck, "Now how shall I kill him?" Steven grabbed Seto by the arm and pulled him to one side.

"Look, if we ever plan on saving Mokuba while he's still alive we'll have to deal with Isono later. Right now we have to figure out where this Hanzo guy could've taken him…" Isono sat up.

"I… I could help you with that." Seto and Steven both glared at him.

"And what makes you think we should trust you of all people?"

"Cause I know Hanzo's plan and where's he's taken him… and you can either take what I have to say or wander around trying to find him without any clues as to where he could be." Steven and Seto both shrugged.

"Fine, tell us where he is and we might not kill you afterwards."

* * *

Everything was dark, so very dark. Mokuba could hear breathing… but he wasn't sure if he was the one breathing or not. Did this mean he was alive? Mokuba started to come back to reality when the pain in his body was becoming evident. Mokuba slowly opened his eyes and turned his head. He was in, what appeared to be, a school. But it wasn't just any school; it was his school. Mokuba was puzzled by this fact… the last thing he remembered was being in his room. And then there was a loud crash, but before Mokuba had opened his eyes, he had been knocked out.

"Good morning, princess." Mokuba gasped when he looked up to see that Hanzo was standing before him. Only, Hanzo didn't look the same as he did 3 months ago. There were scars and bruises all across his face, and his body seemed feebler than he last remembered. Not only that, but instead of his in charge and angry look he had on his face, this time he looked off, crazed, and slightly insane. His expression wasn't the only thing that had changed though, instead of a knife in his hand, he had a gun. "Have a nice sleep?"

"Hanzo…? What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Hanzo clicked his gun, "I'm getting my revenge." Mokuba gulped and his eyes shifted from the gun to Hanzo's face. Although stricken by fear, rage began to rise up in the boy.

"You're not going to get away with this Hanzo. This is America, people are harshly punished for their crimes." Hanzo slapped Mokuba across the head with his pistol.

"I'M THE ONE WITH THE GUN!" Blood started to seep down the side of Mokuba's head as his body curled up into the fetal position, "I'm in charge of this situation, not you." Hanzo kicked Mokuba in the stomach once, then once again. "I should've just killed you… you whiny little brat!" Hanzo landed another kick to the stomach on the whimpering child that lay before him.

"You can kick me all you want…" Mokuba whispered, "But that won't change the fact that you're nothing more than a coward with a gun!" Hanzo grabbed Mokuba by the collar and lifted him up and off his feet. He pulled Mokuba right up to his face.

"The only coward I know is your brother." Hanzo threw Mokuba back down on the ground, "He should be on his way right now…" Mokuba looked up.

"What? He knows where I am?"

"If Isono followed through with our plan, he should be here shortly. You and your brother are going to be in for a BIG surprise…"

"Isono?" Hanzo gave a loud laugh.

"I truly cherish the moments of discovery and stupidity. Isono was working for me the whole time."

"What? No! He couldn't have been…" Just before Hanzo could respond, the door to the classroom flew open.

"HANZO!" Mokuba pushed himself up.

"Nii-sama!" Seto started moving towards Hanzo and Mokuba with a determined look on his face.

"Not so fast Kaiba!" Hanzo lifted his gun and pointed it in his direction. Seto stopped and did the same with his own gun. The room was still for the moment. Hanzo grinned.

"That was smart of you to bring a weapon, I didn't know Kaibas could be smart."

"I'm not here to chat, Hanzo, I'm here to save my brother." Steven ran into the room.

"The police are on their way!" Steven stated. Hanzo raised one eyebrow after taking a look at Steven.

"Who's this guy suppose to be? Your little side kick?"

"Steven! What are you doing here? I told you to call the police and stay outside!"

"What? You thought I was going to let you run in here alone?" Hanzo started clapping.

"How cute, you both care about each other. As beautiful as this is, Seto Kaiba and I have some issues to come to terms with."

"Hanzo, you lost your job. So what? Get over it. That was years ago, and besides, I don't even have a company to run anymore. This whole thing is pointless."

"Oh, I'll show you pointless." Hanzo threw down his gun and reached into his pocket, revealing a small detonator of some sort. "Now who's in control?" Seto's eyes widened.

"W-What is that?" Seto gulped.

"It's exactly what you think it is. There's a bomb in this building and I control whether it goes off or not." Mokuba slowly got to his feet and ran around Hanzo over to the door. Mokuba fought and fought the wedge the door open, but surprisingly it wouldn't budge. This only humored Hanzo. "You think I would make it that easy for you to escape?"

"So you're just going to set off the bomb and let us die trapped in here like rats?" Hanzo grinned.

"That's my plan. Farewell Seto Kaiba, I'm sure we'll meet again in hell." Hanzo's thumb slammed on the button.

"GET DOWN!" There an explosion and a force that threw Seto to the ground. Suddenly his vision turned black and he couldn't see a thing. When Seto finally regained his sight he immediately stood up. He spotted Steven and Mokuba heading towards him.

"This place is gonna come down if we don't hurry!" Steven shouted. Seto got to his feet and finally noticed that the whole building was now on fire. Seto ran to the door and gripping the knob. It was still locked.

"It won't open!" Steven pushed Seto to the side and grabbed the knob himself, pulling at it as hard as he could. "It's not gonna open no matter how hard you pull!"

"Well how do you suppose we get out of here?" Seto took a couple steps back and signaled Steven to move away. He pulled up his sleeves and charged towards the door. His whole body slammed into the door. "You think that's gonna work?"

"Do you want to help me or what?" Steven did as Seto asked as they both stepped back together and charged once more at the door. This time there was a loud crack after their bodies crashed against the door. "I think it's working, we need to work faster."

Mokuba was looking all around him, his body beginning to shake and his lungs filling with smoke. He bit his lip; the flames were growing by the second. Mokuba swiftly wedged himself between Seto and Steven. They both looked down. "Now!" All three of them charged once more at the door and this time it finally fell to the ground.

They wasted no time with victories. They started down the hallways and into the smoke. Seto and Steven sped off, dodged various flames and debri, as Mokuba went as fast his legs could take him. "Nii-sama!" He couldn't move any farther, the smoke was too much for him. Mokuba became very dizzy and his vision was rendered useless as his mind slipped slowly into unconsciousness.

"Mokuba?" Seto stopped and twisted around.

"Don't worry, I've got him." Steven headed back down the hall. Seto stood there waiting and worrying. The flames were growing with every second and the smoke was thickening. Finally he spotted Steven running back towards him with Mokuba in his arms. "Let's move!" He instructed as they set off down the hall once more.

Seto's heart was pumping faster than it ever had, all he could think about was how he couldn't die, that he needed to make it out with his brother safely. Seto needed just one more chance to make things right.

The building was becoming hotter and hotter and smoke began to fill both Seto and Steven's lungs. Seto started to slow down and found himself becoming more and more weak without his regular supply of oxygen. "We have to keep moving!" Steven yelled, "I think we're near the exit!"

Seto looked up. His eyes brightened when he saw a ray of hope, the front door to the school. This was it. They were going to make it. He wasn't going to die. "We're almost there!" Seto shouted. Just then, there was a huge crack that was heard above them. Seto stopped and looked up. The ceiling began to crumble from above Steven. "Watch out!" A huge piece of the ceiling fell just in front of Steven. Seto's heart rate increased once more.

Steven's head scanned the fire in front of him, trying to find a way he could move around it. It wasn't long before he figured out that there was no way around it and that the flames were getting bigger by the second. "Seto!" Steven yelled, holding out Mokuba, "Catch!" Steven, with one big toss, threw Mokuba as hard as he could over the flames and into Seto's arms. Seto caught Mokuba with grace, but stood there, watching Steven stand there in his firey grave.

"Steven… Steven! Jump across!"

"I can't! The flames are too strong now, get out while you still can!" Seto stood there, absolutely shocked. He shook his head.

"No… I'm not leaving you here!"

"You have to… it's the only way to save Mokuba!" Seto looked down at his younger brother whom lay limp in his arms, unconscious. Seto's eyes looked from his brother to Steven.

"Don't do this to me Steven."

"Go!" Another piece of the ceiling fell on top of Steven. Steven landed on the ground and his back began to catch fire. Seto gasped, taking a step forward. Steven was going to die if he didn't do something quick and he knew he couldn't just leave him there. Not after he had just saved his brother.

"Steven!"

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Steven yelled. Seto looked at Mokuba, then at Steven.

"I'll come back for you!" Seto cried as he ran out the door of the school. As Seto took in deep breaths of fresh air, he noticed that there were policemen and fire men all scattered outside of the school. Two firemen headed over to him.

"Sir, are you and the child alright?" Seto quickly shoved Mokuba into the arms of one of the firemen.

"I have to go."

"Go? You can't go back in there that building is coming down. It's too dangerous!"

"I have to go in there, Steven's in there! I can't let him die!" Seto started his way back towards the building.

"Don't you dare leave this child all alone in this world" Seto stopped, "If you go back in there, you won't come back out alive. Don't leave this little boy all by himself in this world." Seto looked over at Mokuba, remembering his promise he had made so many years ago and the mistakes he had made trying to make his life better. He couldn't die… he couldn't leave Mokuba all by himself in a different country with nowhere to go. Seto then turned back towards the school. Seto simply stood there, praying for a miracle.

* * *

When the fire had finally been put out, a fireman approached Seto. "We… we found your friend." Seto got to his feet and followed the man to the stretcher where Steven's body lay. There were burns and cuts all over. Seto took a step back. "I'm sorry… but he's dead." Seto stood there, staring. Staring at the only person he could've truly called a friend.

His eyes started to water for the first time in his life. Tears now flowed freely down his face as he stood silently looking down at his friend. After all he had put Steven through, he had still risked his life to save his. Steven wasn't just a friend; he was more than that. A man that was worthy enough to be called a Kaiba.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys, once again, I want to apologize to ALL of you for taking such a long time to update. Seriously, you have no idea how terrible I felt. Every day I didn't update I thought about you guys. Life's just been going in tons of different directions, not to mention I didn't know how to make this scene seem logical. That's another thing that I want to apologize for, this chapter and how things went, I know it doesn't seem like the most logical thing, but this was the only way things could as I had planned them too being as close to reality as possible. So I hope you forgive me and do know that I tried my very best. Besides, there have been tons of great stories that have somewhat illogical events. But anyways, I better go and start on that next chapter. Prepare yourself._


	22. Life

Greeneyeswhitedragon: Here's something else to look forward too! Hope you like it!

Afiong Bassey: Aww, don't cry! Read this chapter instead! And thanks for reviewing.

Candy world: I hope this chapter is satisfactory for you! Thanks for both your reviews!

Fleeting Illict Delicious: Yeah, I did actually take it from Dragonforce. I am in love with that song like you wouldn't believe. And you don't need to eat any words, lots of people will tell me I have a great story but I'll have all these grammatical errors. Which is totally understandable, every great writer should always try to make sure her final draft is always perfect and will provide her readers full pleasure. Well it's good to hear I surprised you, because stories where you pretty much know the reaction of the character or how the story will turn out, I find, are somewhat boring. The stories that surprise always make me want to read more. Last but not least, that is a great back story for a username and you should definitely consider adding that to your profile. I don't have a back story, and I will admit, my username is quite nerdy;.; I was just so in love with Mokuba I made up that username right off the bat and even though now it's not quite me anymore, I don't bother changing it because I feel as though that's just how people see me now-a-days. But anyways, I'm sure you can't wait to get on and read the chapter so I'll end this with a thanks for the intriguing review and enjoy!

AmePiper: I always enjoy all your reviews and they always make me smile. Thanks for every single one of them and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Oh, and P.S., have you read my latest story? This may sound really silly, but I was wondering if you've looked at it yet because you haven't reviewed to it(and you've practically read/reviewed all my stories) I was wondering if maybe my newest story was a fail and that's why you didn't review? Let me know what you think, because I'd hate to add on to a fail story. Thanks again!

Mystical Sand: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Now onto Chapter 22!

Julia: Thanks for the review!

Chapter 22

_Life_

There were echoes and noises of all sorts. It was pitch black, and yet there were flames surrounding him. He saw the light at the end of the tunnel but didn't have the strength to make it there. He pushed and pulled with all his might to move forward but it seemed as though nothing would budge. Just as all seemed lost a man appeared before him holding out his hand. Quite willingly, he took the man's hand and let him heave him up and out of the flames. When he looked into the man's face he discovered it was Steven.

Mokuba's eyes opened slowly and his body lay still. His eyes scanned the room and Mokuba quickly discovered that he was in a hospital. It felt as though that by now, that waking up and finding himself in the hospital wasn't all that much of a big deal. He had been in so many hospitals in his life you would've thought he would be dying from a disease. Mokuba noticed Seto sitting beside him in a chair and sat up.

"Nii-sama?" Seto snapped out of his daydreams and looked over at his brother.

"Oh hey kiddo, it's good to see you awake." Seto tried to smile, but couldn't. Mokuba stared at him with a bewildered face. There was obviously something on Seto's mind considering he wasn't flipping out about his health and the fact that he could've died. Then Mokuba remembered the fire, Hanzo, and their escape.

"We made it out alive?"

"What?"

"The fire… I fell unconscious while we were trying to get out… what happened?" Mokuba looked around at the hospital room to find that Steven was nowhere in site. "Where's Steven?" Seto winced at the sound of Steven's name. Seto looked away at the ground. There was silence in the room.

"Steven is dead." It felt as though there was an invisible wave that finally broke and crashed into the room. The silence seemed even more deathly. Seto still kept his eyes away from his brother.

"Oh…" Seto heard Mokuba say softly. Seto expected to hear his brother cry in reaction to the news; Mokuba had always been so full of emotion ever since he was little. To his surprise, Seto hadn't heard his brother do anything. Seto finally gathered the courage to look up and at his brother. Mokuba was staring at his hands that lay in his lap. "I don't understand…"

"You don't understand what?"

"Why is it that everyone we ever care about or love…" Mokuba paused, "Always dies on us." Seto gulped and took another deep breath. Seto wanted to give Mokuba reassuring words and make everything better, but he knew he couldn't do that. It was the truth. The Kaiba brothers could never truly rely on anyone because it always seems as if something has to go wrong. Seto was angry at this fact. He felt as though someone was making it so that they would never be happy.

"I… I don't know Mokuba…" Seto whispered, almost as if he were saying it to himself. The silence evolved once more and took over the whole room now. Both brothers were wrapped up in their own thoughts and emotions. At this point, everything seemed practically hopeless. There was a knock on the hospital door.

"Mr. Kaiba," a nurse said as she walked into the room. Seto rose to his feet.

"Yes?"

"There are visitors here to see you and your brother." Seto and Mokuba looked at each other with puzzled looks. "Shall I let them in?" Seto nodded and the nurse disappeared out of the room. A few moments later four casual looking men walked into the room. They didn't appear to be the happiest of people until they spotted Seto and Mokuba. The tallest of the men stepped forward and held out his hand to Seto.

"You must be Seto Kaiba, right?" Seto nodded, not exactly sure if that was the information he wanted this stranger knowing. "I'm Phil Green." Seto still stared at the man with a confused face. "I'm Steven's brother." The sound of his name made Seto wince once more. He still managed to take Phil's hand and shake it.

"Nice to meet you," Seto said.

"These are my brothers, Robert, Andy, and Nicholas." Seto proceeded to shake all three of their hands. Then Robert stepped forward.

"I'm guessing you're wondering why we're here," Robert said, "We heard about Steven and what happened. We also heard about how he had been working for you for the past 3 months and how close he was to you and your brother."

"We just wanted to say thank you," added Andy, "For all you've done, really. By getting that job Steven finally had a place to stay. He's one of those people that would run off and sometimes get himself into trouble."

"And boy was Steven trouble," stated Nicholas, looking down at the ground, "The last we ever saw from him was when he was running away from home saying he was going to kill himself. Our father was angry with him over some random thing and had attempted to set Steven on fire. We never saw him again. For the longest time we thought he actually did kill himself." Mokuba and Seto looked horrified as they imagined poor Steven running away in fear and anger off to California.

"I guess what we're trying to say is, when you gave Steven that job, you gave him a reason to live, in a way," said Andy.

"And as a symbol of our gratitude, we're willingly to compile all the money you need to pay off your bills or move back to Japan. It's whichever you want to do." Mokuba looked over at Seto.

"Go back to Japan?"

"I had never even thought of going back," Seto said, feeling slightly relieved at the thought but also fearful.

"Just get back to us when you know what to do." All four of them left and the two brothers remained. The country Japan now seemed all too foreign to them even though they had only been living in the United States for only 3 months. But 3 months felt like an eternity and Japan seemed like such a far away country.

* * *

"I'm Scott Morris reporting to you live from San Francisco. Today I'm here to report a story like no other. A story about love, broken dreams, and promises. Yesterday at the San Fran Elementary School was burned to the ground. There were 2 reported deaths, out of the 4 people that were in there around 11:00 last night. That is when we ran into Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, two brothers who immigrated to here from Japan only 3 months ago. After running some research, we found out that these two were no ordinary pair of brothers. Seto Kaiba was one of the most successful CEO's in Japan before he moved here. We may think of him as just another rich man, but behind every great man is a sad story. Seto and Mokuba's parents died when they were just children and they lived in an orphanage for many years until Gozaburo Kaiba, former president of Kaiba Corp, came and was forced into adopting them. A few years later, Seto overturned Gozaburo and took hold of the company as well as his step-father's life. But when he became the president, his brother became a target for greedy criminals that were after his money. When his brother came close to dying, Seto was willing to risk anything for his brother's safety. That is when he moved here. But after experiencing a near death experience when he escaped the fire at the elementary school, the one question on everyone's mind is, will Seto and Mokuba Kaiba returned to their home country? Or will they stay in the states?"

The TV flicked off and the two brothers sat silently next to each other. Mokuba placed the remote back down on the coffee table and sat back. He turned his head and looked at his brother. "Well, now what?"

"What?"

"Our story is all over the news. Everyone's going to know who we are and what happened by tonight. Which means we won't just be shady immigrants and we won't be able to runaway from our name." Seto scratched his head.

"I suppose that is a point…" Seto said, "We have to make a decision." Mokuba nodded. Seto reached forward and grabbed Mokuba's hand, holding it in his. "This time we'll make the decision together." Mokuba nodded once more.

"So what are our options?"

"I think you and I both know what they are. We can both stay here and try to rebuild our lives, once again. Or we return to Japan and try to rebuild our lives, again. I think that's what it all comes down to in the long run." They both sat and though for a moment. The next decision could determine the rest of their lives and how everything would go for them. At this point in time, no country looked more appealing than the other. Neither brother wanted to make the wrong decision.

"Hey Nii-sama."

"Yes Mokuba?"

"Have you ever felt like… things never go the way you want them to? That when you think you're on top of things and you know where you're going and where you want to go, that life will just surprise you and throw you off?" Seto thought for a moment.

"Yes, I do believe I have felt that way. What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing really, just that… life wouldn't be life without stuff like that happening." It got quite and they were absorbed in their own thoughts and feelings. But after a very long period of silence and mental listing of pros and cons, they came to a conclusion.

* * *

When we had first came to our conclusion, we were fearful and still weren't sure if the decision we were making was the right one. But somehow we both knew that it was the path we needed to take at this point in time, and that fear was nothing more than an emotion. I don't know how long it took for us to feel like we really did do the right thing.

We stepped off that plane with a mixture of feelings and emotions. It was like finding an old toy you once knew and loved under your bed and remembering how much it meant to you at one point in time, but not quite sure what it meant to you now. But even if it's been years since you last played with the toy, that doesn't change the fact that you have so many fond memories of it.

To our surprise, some of our old friends were there, waiting for us as we stepped out of customs and walked down the hallway. Yugi, Tristan, Tea, and even Joey cheered when they finally spotted us and ran over, wrapping us both in all their arms. Although my brother was still disgruntled by this action, I knew it made him happy knowing there was someone waiting to greet us when we came back.

It didn't take us long to get back our old house, which we still refer to as the Kaiba Mansion even after all this time. The house still had an eerie feeling to it as it always had, and I could've sworn I heard my step father's footsteps when we were first walking through the house for the first time since we got back. But with good and bad, it was our only home and the only one we had ever really known.

Soon after we had settled into the house, my brother was in search of a job for a while. But his search didn't exactly last that long, because we got a phone call only a week or two after informing us that Pegasus had let go of what was once Kaiba Corp. and the company wanted him back as their president. Seto was pleased and somewhat prideful knowing this fact and gladly accepted the job.

I suppose it may seem as though life was just as it had been only months ago before our lives completely changed. The truth is Seto and I have changed a lot as people. And we haven't exactly forgotten the death of our closet friend. We didn't stay for Steven's funeral. Seto said he couldn't bear to watch them bury the only decent man he had known in America. I didn't argue it was hard enough knowing he was dead.

I'm guessing you're expecting a conclusion, or some kind of heartfelt ending. I wish I could give you that, but the truth is, this is no fairy tale. This is my life. The life that I have finally determined is worth living. Because you can search the world for something, whether its love, trust, or protection, and you'll discover in the end that you always had everything you ever needed. You just need to open your eyes and see the world.

_The End._

* * *

**A/N:** _And so ends "For Your Protection." I really hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and enjoyed my story as a whole. I had a really great time writing this story and I feel truly passionate about what I have accomplished. Ending this story is hard for me, because it seems like I've been working on this for years now and somehow it's over. This is the longest story I've ever written, so it's a strange feeling. But I can't end this story without a thank you. I'd like to thank…_

_You reviewers of course! You guys are the ones who have been cheering me on since chapter 1 and there's nothing I love more than kind words and motivating reviews! Seriously guys, I would be having the crappiest day ever, but I'd see I have a review and it would really turn my day around. You have no idea how much your reviews mean to me. Thanks for always being patient and supportive, you guys are all awesome!_

_Kura, for being the best sister in the world. You guys should probably thank her for the fantastic summary, she was the one who thought most of it up. She's also quite the writer herself. You should check out her profile sometime. But anyways, Kura, I love you so much, thanks for always being there for me, even when you have such a busy life in another country. You mean the world to me._

_Jimmy G., he's actually a real person guys. I tried to base him off my friend, but I don't think I did it so well. He's a pretty complex guy if you ever meet him. I know he won't read this so that's why I'm writing it like I'm talking to someone else. He probably doesn't know it, but sometimes just seeing him brightens my day automatically. There's a lot I should thank him for. _

_Once again, I hope you all enjoyed the story. Be sure to check out my latest story sometime. Thank you all once again and I hope you have a fantastic day!_


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